Stockholm Syndrome
by SinkOrFly
Summary: SQ. Emma accidentally sends herself back in time to the Enchanted Forest, along with Snow, David and Killian. It doesn't take long until she ends up separated from her family and in the hands of the Evil Queen. Let's just say, she isn't completely averse to it...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Quick warning: this fic will contain elements of dubious consent, and possible mild violence. Not necessarily in this chapter, but at some point.**

 **It's not going to be that dark or heavy or anything, but I still think I should warn you.**

 **This is my first fic in FTL, so wish me luck!**

* * *

One minute, Emma was standing in Gold's Pawn Shop, and the next...

She materialises into thin air, and thanks to gravity, slams onto the floor. She lands on her back, the force of the impact knocking the air out of her so that she struggles to catch her breath. All she can do is lie on the cold, hard ground and look up at the cloudy sky, wondering why bad things happened to good people.

But then she hears the groans of pain from around her, coming from the three unfortunate souls who had been standing around her when she made her colossal mistake. Emma forces herself to lift her head off the ground and look at Killian, who has landed a few feet away from her. He's already sitting up, dusting off his leather jacket and looking around at the forest on either side of him with a look of utter confusion.

Emma turns her head the other way, seeing Mary Margaret and David untangling themselves from each other. They had been standing too close to each other before the transportation, so had somehow managed to land on top of one another. David is mumbling something about how Snow's elbow had hit one of his ribs and it may or may not be broken.

Emma closes her eyes and drops her head back down, making it hit the ground with a _thud_. She was already in pain from landing heavily on her back, and hitting her head on the ground doesn't help matters, but she can't help it. She's tired of all this magical bullshit.

They had been standing in Gold's shop, looking for a birthday present for Henry, and now they're... God knows where. All Emma knows is that they are lying on a dirty path, the air is cold, trees surround them on either side, and she doesn't recognise the location.

"Honey, are you okay?" When Emma opens her eyes, Snow is suddenly hovering above her, looking at her with motherly concern.

"I'm fine." Emma assures her, forcing herself to sit up and wincing in pain when her back puts up a protest.

"Good, we all landed in one piece." Mary Margaret says positively. "But, Emma... _what the hell did you do_?"

Emma's eyes widen as she watches Snow's face go from worry, to relief, to anger, in a matter of seconds. She looks behind her mother at Killian and David, who are now standing up and looking at her in an accusatory manner. "I didn't do anything!" Emma insists. "I just picked up that old pocket-watch, and then... _poof_."

She wasn't lying. That's all that she _had_ done. She had been looking around the pawn shop when she had seen an old, dusty pocket watch. It looked fancy and expensive, something an aristocrat might pull out of his suit pocket and gaze at through a monocle. She wanted to give it a closer look, so she picked it up. The next thing she knew, she was crashing onto the ground in a whole different place.

"Don't you know by now that you shouldn't just touch things in Gold's shop? That stuff is dangerous, Emma, and most of it contains magic. You touch the wrong thing in Gold's shop, and... well, _now_ look where we are." Snow sweeps an arm around at the surroundings.

"Where are we?" Emma asks. She feels stupid for asking, but she really has no idea.

"The Enchanted Forest." Snow informs her, folding her arms across her chest.

Emma's mouth drops open. The Enchanted Forest? All she had done was pick up a pocket watch! How the hell did they end up crossing realms?

"Bloody hell, Swan." Killian mutters, shaking his head.

He walks over to her and offers his good hand to help her up. She accepts and stands, looking around at the land that she really doesn't want to be in. She has been to the Enchanted Forest a few times before and has discovered that she's less than fond of the place. Ogres? Witches? And, oh God, the chimera.

"We need to find a way home." Emma states immediately, not even entertaining the thought that they stay for a second longer than absolutely necessary.

"You think?" Killian says.

"Uh... Guys?" David's nervous voice sounds from a few steps away. They all look over at him. He has his back to them, looking at something in his hands that they can't see. "That may be harder than you think."

The tone of his voice makes Emma worry, and she's suddenly dreading hearing the news that David is going to say. "Why? What have you got there?"

David turns around, revealing a piece of paper that he's holding. He stares at it for a second, looking worried, then holds it up for the other three members of the party to see. That's when Emma understands that it really _will_ be harder for them to return to Storybrooke than she had initially imagined...

On the piece of paper are the words ' _WANTED for crimes against the Queen: MURDER, TREASON, TREACHERY._ ' And in the middle, an extremely realistic drawing of Snow White.

Not only are they in the Enchanted Forest, but Snow White is a wanted woman, which must mean...

"We're in the past." Mary Margaret breathes, looking like she's about to faint.

"Bloody hell, Swan." Killian says again, moving to stand next to Emma. "How the hell did you manage this?"

That's when more accusatory looks are cast in Emma's direction, and she looks at them in disbelief. They're looking at her like she did this on purpose; like she intentionally took them back in time. This was a mistake. Everybody makes mistakes! Sure, they usually aren't as big as this one, but still...

"I just picked up a pocket watch." Emma mumbles, looking down guiltily.

"And now we're in the past." David says, looking back at his wife's 'wanted' poster, then throwing it to the ground. "How are we going to get back to Storybrooke?"

"We can't panic." Snow says decisively. "If we panic, then we won't think clearly." She's already starting to pace, which makes Emma think that she's breaking her own 'don't panic' rule, but she doesn't say anything. She's done enough for today. "The pocket-watch was in Gold's shop, and everything in Gold's shop comes from the Enchanted Forest, which means that the pocket watch should be here somewhere. If the watch brought us here, then it'll be able to take us back. So, all we need to do is find the watch."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Killian asks.

"As much as I hate to say it, our best bet is Rumpelstiltskin's castle." David says. "We should go there first."

"Great, but does anyone know how we get there? Or where we are, for that matter?" Emma says, looking around at their surroundings with a frown. She sure as hell doesn't. "We're in the middle of a nondescript forest. How the hell are we supposed to find Rumpelstiltskin's castle?"

"Honey, you forget that your mother used to be a bandit." Snow says, looking strangely proud of herself. "I know this forest like the back of my hand. If we are where I think we are, then we should head East."

Emma nods her head and turns... then realises that she doesn't know which way East is, so continues to turn until she's rotated in a slow 360 degree circle. When she's facing Snow again, the pixie-haired woman points behind her and they start to walk in that direction.

But they only make it a couple of steps before David runs in front of them and cuts them off. "We need to remember that we're in the past now." He says urgently. "No one can see us here. With the way that we look, we'll stick out like sore thumbs, and people will know that something's not right about us. And, of course, Mary Margaret, Killian and I already exist in this realm. If we see people that we know... that could be trouble. Especially if Snow gets seen, because she'll be arrested."

"You're right, we should get off this path." Mary Margaret says, already looking at the forest for an alternative route.

"And the most important thing," David says, his voice deadly serious. "We can't change anything. If we change the past, then we'll alter the future, and that can't happen."

Emma lifts a shoulder in a way that is far too casual for what the situation commands. But, at this point, they've broken a curse; defeated Peter Pan, the Snow Queen, the Wicked Witch of the West and countless other villains; been to hell and back; survived a trip to Neverland; travelled to Camelot; Emma and Killian have survived being the Dark One. Finding a pocket-watch in the Enchanted Forest so that they can return to Storybrooke seems like a bit of a walk in the park in comparison.

"Alright. We travel through the forest, we go unnoticed, we don't change anything." Emma lists tiredly. "We get it. Let's just go."

Sometimes, Emma feels like some greater force is out to get her. Like something out there is constantly trying to sabotage her. This is one of those times. Right after she has dismissed David's worries and assumed that their return to Storybrooke will be a piece of cake, they hear something coming towards them. It sounds like a horse, and it's coming quickly.

The group look at each other in alarm, then dive into the surrounding foliage. They move quickly, David and Hook hiding behind trees, and Snow and Emma lying behind a bush. They hope that they are out of sight and haven't been noticed by whoever is on the horse, because it could be trouble if they get seen.

Of course they were seen.

The horse slows to a stop on the path, right near where they are hiding. All is quiet for a moment, then a voice calls out: "Show yourselves!"

Emma closes her eyes and tries her hardest to be silent. Why is she always the one to do stupid things? Only she would transport her family back in time to the Enchanted Forest, where her mother is a Wanted woman. If they get seen by anyone, then they're in big trouble. Snow could be arrested and executed, and it would be all Emma's fault.

"I said: show yourselves!" A deep voice bellows. "I know you're hiding in there."

Emma listens as the man dismounts the horse and begins walking towards their hiding spots. No! They can't all get caught! She moves to stand up so that she can go and talk to the man, but Snow grabs her wrist and shoots her a stern look.

"It'll be OK." Emma assures her mother. "I'll get rid of him. I don't exist yet, remember? No one knows me."

Before Snow can argue, Emma pulls her wrist free and jumps through the bush, appearing on the path a few steps away from the man.

Guard would be a more accurate description. He's dressed in all black armour, and his face is covered. Emma recognises the armour immediately and knows just whose guard he is. The Evil Queen's. Emma swallows, suddenly more nervous and more convinced that his person can not lay eyes on Snow.

As soon as the guard sees Emma, he draws his sword and points it at her, head tilted warily. "Who are you?"

Emma raises her hands, showing that she isn't a threat. "Just a traveller." Emma says. "I don't mean any harm."

"You're trespassing on the Queen's land." The guard says sternly.

Emma's mouth forms an 'o' shape. She hadn't known she was on the Queen's land. The Evil Queen's land. That's one person whose land that you _don't_ want to trespass on. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"How can you not know? How did you get here, peasant?"

Emma swallows, knowing that she can't tell the truth. _Time travel_ doesn't seem an acceptable answer. Neither does _teleportation_. He probably wouldn't believe her anyway, and then who knows what trouble she'd get into. So, she doesn't say anything, reasoning that she'd probably cause less trouble by keeping her mouth shut.

"You're breaking the law, girl." The guard spits. "What are you doing on the Queen's land?"

"Travelling." Emma says with a shrug. "I didn't know that this was the Queen's land. I'm not from around here. I'll leave right now, I swear." Emma starts to back up. For all she knows, she could just be going further onto the Queen's land, but she needs to try and get away from this man.

"Stop!" He shouts, and she freezes where she is. "You're not going anywhere." He walks towards her, his sword pointed at her chest the entire time. "You've broken the law. I must take you to the Queen so that she can give you a suitable punishment."

Emma's eyes widen and she shakes her head vehemently. "That's really not necessary. I promise, I didn't know that I was trespassing. I'll leave right away and never come back. Please, don't take me to the Queen. Please." The begging is really bad for her ego, but she doesn't care right now. There are more important matters at hand.

"You're going to the Queen." The guard says, showing no room for argument.

He roughly grabs Emma's wrist and spins her so that her arm is behind her back. She tries to tug it free, but the guard is too strong. In a seemingly effortless manoeuvre, the guard uses one hand to take both of Emma's wrists, then sheaths his sword and uses the now-free hand to put shackles on Emma's wrists.

The next thing she knows, she's being dragged towards the horse to be taken to the Queen's castle.

This is bad. If the Evil Queen, a.k.a Regina, sees Emma now, then that will surely change the future. Emma and Regina were supposed to meet for the first time on Emma's 28th birthday. Not now, not here. If Regina sees Emma today, then she will recognise her when Emma brings Henry back from Boston on her birthday. That can't happen. That will change everything.

Emma looks frantically at the bushes that she knows contain her parents and boyfriend. She can't see them, but she still mouths 'help me!' in their general direction.

They don't help her, and she's transported to the Queen's castle.

* * *

 **A/N: Who's interested in reading where this will go?**

 **Next chapter up soon, then if it gets enough interest, I'll continue.**


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as Emma arrives at the castle, she is dragged into a large room, devoid of any furniture except for a throne. The throne sits at the front of the room, on top of 5 steps. On the floor is a line of people that Emma assumes are prisoners. They are all shackled, wearing dirty rags, kneeling on the floor facing the throne, and each has their own guard standing behind them. The guard who found Emma and dragged her here is behind her, pushing her to the end of the line. Then, without warning, he kicks her legs and sends her falling onto her knees along with the rest of the prisoners. She has to grit her teeth to stop herself from swearing at the him.

On her way to the room, Emma had had to force herself to remain unaffected by the opulence of the castle. It was so grand and fancy, truly fit for a queen, even if that queen _is_ the Evil Queen.

Now, though, she has to force herself to remain unaffected by the sight of some of the other prisoners. Some, like herself, must only have been arrested recently. Although they are wearing flimsy rags, they still look reasonably healthy. Others, however, aren't so lucky. They look tired and beaten, thin in the face like they haven't eaten a proper meal for months. Emma imagines them, locked up in the dungeon that the Evil Queen undoubtedly has beneath the castle. Is that where she'll end up?

The guard behind her must see her eyeing up the other prisoners with a sympathetic look on her face, because the next thing she knows, his mouth is by her ear.

"You're looking at your future, wench." He spits, then straightens up again.

Emma closes her eyes and looks down, kicking herself for getting into this situation. This wouldn't have happened to someone like Regina. Someone responsible and smart. God, Emma was an idiot at times. She's messed up so badly this time. _So_ badly. The ironic thing is that she really needs Regina at this moment, to help her get out of this sticky situation. And by sticky situation, she means seeing Regina. Well, the Evil Queen. The one person that she needs is also the person she needs to avoid, but one of them is from the present and one of them is from the past.

Man, time travel is confusing.

Rather unhelpfully, the guard leans back down to talk into her ear again. "You're lucky that I caught you when I did, before you'd committed any serious offences. Your sentence might be lenient. Three months in the dungeon or a whipping."

"Lucky me." Emma mumbles, which earns her a smack on the head by the guard. It's not as hard as it could have been, but it's enough of a warning that Emma keeps her mouth shut.

She doesn't know how long she's there for, kneeling on the floor and waiting. At one point, one of the prisoners starts to have a coughing fit, and everyone tries to ignore it the best they can. Still, after the second minute of choking passed, the guard behind him hit him over the hit with the butt of his sword, hard enough that the prisoner passed out. Emma felt anger surge through her, and she immediately began to move to her feet, but a heavy hand fell on her shoulder and a stern voice came in her ear. "Don't do anything stupid." It said, and Emma hated herself for listening to it and staying still.

She reasons with herself that the only reason she didn't do anything to help is because that would only get her into more trouble, and she needed to find a way _out of_ trouble instead of finding more. Still, her own refusal to help makes her feel sick. She reminds herself that, when this moment happened in the past, she wasn't there to help. She couldn't interfere with what happens to that man, as that would be changing the past, which would then change the future.

A few minutes later, the prisoner gains consciousness. He wordlessly pushes himself off the floor, which he struggles to do with his hands shackled behind him, then kneels in line as if nothing had happened. The only indication of what had just occurred is the trail of blood dripping down his cheek from the wound the sword made. Emma swallows back the bile rising in her throat, fighting the urge to try to be the hero here.

Finally, the doors swing open. Magic, Emma knows, which can only mean one thing...

The Evil Queen appears moments later, striding into the room with a smirk on her face. Emma has seen Regina in the Evil Queen get-up a handful of times before, but it's something that she can never get used to. Currently, the Evil Queen is wearing a black dress with silver details and a bodice that pushes up her cleavage so much that Emma can hardly pull her eyes away from it. She manages to lift her eyes away from the dip of Regina's breasts for a couple of seconds at a time, just long enough to check her face.

She feels a little guilty about blatantly checking out her best friend, even if this is when Regina was the Evil Queen. They're in the past, Emma tells herself. Technically, they aren't best friends yet. Besides, Regina is the one who wore dresses that made it impossible for people to _not_ check her out. She's pretty much asking for Emma to stare at her cleavage. At least, that's what Emma tells herself.

Past-Regina walks confidently and elegantly across the room, all eyes following her as she does. Emma learns that Regina-from-the-present's ability to hold the attention of everyone in the room is one that she has always possessed. Emma is finding it impossible to tear her eyes away from the brunette, and she can sense that everyone else is having the same problem.

Regina, for her part, doesn't seem to notice. She nods her acknowledgement to the guards, but doesn't bother to even look at the prisoner's. This is good for Emma, as she is determined to go unseen by the Queen, for the sake of not changing the future. She wishes that she had a glamour spell, so that she could change her appearance and the future would remain unaffected. But, she doesn't have a spell, and even if she did, the other people in the room would probably notice if she suddenly transformed into a completely different person.

There was no way that she could get out of this now.

Regina finally reaches her throne and sits down, a smirk still on her face, despite the fact that nothing has happened yet.

"Let's just get on with this, shall we?" Regina says, cutting to the chase.

So, the hearing begins. Starting with the first prisoner, at the opposite side of the line to Emma. He was a middle-aged man and looked quite strong, if not a little thin.

"Your majesty, this farmhand was found in the orchard." The guard behind him says. "He was taking apples from the trees."

Regina doesn't say anything, but lifts an eyebrow and turns her gaze to the man in question. That's when the man decides to try to justify his actions.

"I'm so sorry, my Queen, I didn't know that the apple trees belonged to you. I was just... my family's crops failed due to the flooding in the spring, and we have no food. My children are starving! We have no money! I was just trying to feed my family, to keep them alive. I didn't know that I was in _your_ orchard. I didn't know who the trees belonged to!"

Emma turns back to Regina, just in time to see her face change into an exaggerated look of sympathy. It's quite clearly sarcastic, which annoys Emma slightly. Who doesn't feel bad for a man desperately trying to feed his starving family?

The Evil Queen, that's who.

"If you wanted my apples, all you had to do was ask, dear." Regina says with a smile, which makes Emma look at her warily.

Regina holds out her hand, palm-up, and a shiny red apple appears in it. She stands, walking down the steps towards the prisoner. The staccato clicking of her heels echoes loudly around the room, piercing the silence. When Regina is in front of the man, she waves a hand, removing his shackles, then holds the apple out for him to take. He does, with shaking hands and a terrified look on his face.

Then, Regina turns around and walks back to her throne. She sits back down, crossing one leg over the other and presses her fingers together in a steeple shape. Her eyes go back to the man, then she smiles darkly.

"Well? Eat it." She says.

"Your majesty-"

Regina's face darkens more. "Eat. It."

Everyone knows that you should never eat anything apple-based from the Evil Queen, but the man doesn't have much of a choice. The sound of him biting into the fruit fills the room, but Emma keeps her eyes on Regina, and the satisfaction that she seems to be getting from this whole thing. The next sound that Emma hears is a thud: the man dropping to the floor, unconscious.

Emma feels sick when she sees Regina's eyes light up as she begins to chuckle darkly. Regina isn't like this in the present, she's a better person. But the Evil Queen is dark and twisted, and Emma doesn't know how she can actually find joy in this. Emma decides right there on the spot that she hates this woman. This woman is not the Regina that she knows. This woman is not her best friend.

Ever since the Evil Queen walked into the room, Emma had known that there was something about her appearance that made her different to Regina. Emma had pinned it down to the attire. Regina would never be caught dead in a dress like that these days. But no, that's not what's different. It's her eyes. They're darker, without a hint of kindness. Cruel and ruthless. They've not landed on Emma yet, but she's already dreading the time that the Evil Queen looks at her with those heartless eyes.

Regina waves her hand dismissively and the unconscious man is dragged away. Then, Regina looks at the next prisoner, and the guard behind the elderly woman begins to cite off her crime.

* * *

It's an hour later and Emma still hasn't been looked at by Regina. They've worked their way down the line, giving out punishments. Executions, fifty years in the dungeon and forty strokes of the whip are but a few.

After each punishment, the Queen looks more and more gleeful, which makes Emma feel more and more sick. But now Regina seems to be getting tired. Well, bored. So, the prisoner before Emma gets sentenced to thirty years in the dungeon with a dismissive wave of Regina's hand, and Emma is the only prisoner left.

Emma's heart races as she waits for Regina to look at her. She knows that there won't be any recognition on her face, seeing as she doesn't know her yet, but she's still nervous. She expects Regina's face to be unmoved when it lands on her, but that's not what happens.

Regina looks at her, then her head tilts to the side. Her eyes move down, roaming over Emma's body, then her back straightens and her lips twitch upwards. Emma swallows nervously, not knowing what caused this reaction, and not particularly wanting to. Every place that Regina's eyes touch feels like it's burning up and freezing at the same time. Those eyes are just so damn cold, unlike the ones that Emma is used to.

"And what do we have here?" Regina says, meeting Emma's eyes again.

"A trespasser." Emma's guard says. "I found her in the North East corner of the castle grounds."

Regina's head tilts again, her eyes narrowing. "The North East corner? Why, that's nothing but forest."

Emma wonders if this small interaction will be enough for Regina to remember her when they meet in the present. She seems to be paying particular interest to her, which doesn't bode well.

"She was on the path." The guard says. "She jumped into the bushes when she heard me coming, but I found her."

"I didn't know that I was trespassing." Emma says honestly.

"Then why did you hide?" Regina asks challengingly.

Emma lifts a shoulder. "I'm not from around here."

Regina's eyes move down Emma's body again, making her shift nervously. "No, you're not, are you? Those are such peculiar clothes."

Emma looks down at her red leather jacket, white tank top and blue skinny jeans. In her land, they're not 'peculiar', but she supposes that they may be odd to the people of the Enchanted Forest.

"I'm surprised that you didn't get warned." Regina says, picking some lint off her dress. "The villagers do like to be dramatic. For miles around, they warn people about the castle that houses the terrible Evil Queen." Her eyes flicker back to Emma with amusement. "That's me, of course." Regina pauses for a moment. "So, did you choose not to heed the warning that you undoubtedly received?"

Emma swallows and looks down at the floor, not knowing what to say.

"I can't decide if you're brave, or stupid."

 _Stupid. Definitely stupid._

"Maybe both." Regina decides, and Emma finds herself nodding slightly. She doesn't realise until a small laugh escapes Regina, which is less amused and more fascinated.

Emma looks up to meet Regina's eyes, which are watching her like she's a rare species that she's never seen before.

"What's your name?" Regina asks.

Ah, the dreaded question. Emma can't tell the truth. At the moment, there's still a chance that the future hasn't been altered. Regina might not recognise her when she returns Henry from Boston, and the timeline would continue uninterrupted. But if she says her name, then Regina might remember it. It might spark some recognition, which would change the way that things play out.

Of course, Emma could lie and give a fake name. But if the Evil Queen suspects her of lying, then that could cause more trouble and make things worse.

So, she doesn't say anything, which makes Regina narrow her eyes.

"Alright." Regina says, looking a little frustrated that she didn't get an answer, but not frustrated enough to send a fireball at Emma. "Where are you from?"

Emma swallows, but still doesn't speak. Regina raises an eyebrow, seemingly surprised that Emma wasn't responding.

"I believe you, you know." Regina says, looking at her nails as if she's bored. "I believe that you aren't from around here. There's just something about you. Your clothes, your hair, your disposition. You're not from here."

 _My hair? What's wrong with my hair?_

"I just want to know how far you've come." Regina says, looking back at Emma with an innocent look on her face. "Another village, another kingdom..."

"Another land." Emma says, which causes Regina to smile.

"Was that so hard?" She drawls. "Which land?"

"A land without magic." Emma says, because what harm could that do?

This piques Regina's interest. Her back straightens and she looks at Emma with more intensity than before. "A land without magic? How very... mundane. But if you're from a land without magic, then how did you get here?"

That's something that Emma knows she can't answer. Explaining that the town that she lives in actually _does_ have magic because of the curse that Regina cast years ago but currently hasn't cast would be way too confusing, and would definitely change the future. So, she just lifts a shoulder. "It's a long story."

Regina's lips go into a thin line, not pleased by the answer. "And one that I would very much like to hear." Emma grits her teeth, her heart rate increasing. "But maybe another time." Regina adds, making Emma relax again. "I have other things to attend to. This hearing has already gone on much longer than I had hoped."

At that, Regina stands up and descends the steps. She keeps her eyes glued to Emma as she walks past, towards the door at the back of the room. Emma's guard clears his throat awkwardly.

"Your majesty? What shall I do with _her_?" He asks, as if Emma isn't currently kneeling in front of him.

Regina turns back around at the door, looks at Emma and then smiles wickedly. "Take her upstairs."

With that, Regina leaves the room, her heels getting quieter and quieter until they can't be heard any more. The guard behind Emma grabs her arm and hauls her to her feet, mumbling something about how she's lucky the Queen has taken an interest in her as now her punishment won't be as severe.

But Emma can't concentrate on what he's saying. All she can do is wonder what is going to happen to her, and whether or not the future is completely and utterly fucked.

* * *

 **A/N: So? Who would be interested in reading this fic?**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Wow! I've been so pleasantly surprised by the response to this story! Thank you to everyone who has shown interest :)**

* * *

It's only while Emma is being dragged up a staircase that she realises that she has no clue where she's going.

Upstairs? What's upstairs?

Now, Emma's no expert, but she's pretty sure that dungeons aren't usually upstairs. But if she isn't being taken to a dungeon, then where could she possibly be being taken? She'll find out soon enough...

Emma is dragged to the third floor, then is pushed down a long corridor. She tries to keep track of where she's going, but after the fourth corner that they turn, she's already confused. Everywhere looks exactly the same! How anyone navigates a castle is beyond her. The stone walls are identical everywhere, as are the wooden doors that lead off to different rooms, so there's no way of distinguishing one corridor from the next.

For all Emma knows, she's being taken in a square and is just going down the same halls again and again. That's what it feels like. But, eventually, the guard stops outside one of the doors and opens it. He removes Emma's shackles, then pushes her inside the room, closing the door behind her.

Before she can even digest what is happening, there is a click behind her, which she assumes is a bolt being slid into place to prevent her from leaving. She turns back to the door, waits a second as the guards footsteps recede, then she tries the door handle. Just as she'd suspected, it's locked.

She sighs and turns to look at the room that she's been dumped in. It isn't large, by any account, but she rather optimistically reminds herself that it could be smaller, and she should be grateful that she can walk a few paces in each direction. Small victories.

God, she's been spending too much time around Snow.

Pressed against one wall is a small bed, which looks more like one of the cots in the cells of Storybrooke's sheriff station than a luxury bed. On the opposite wall is a small toilet, which is pretty much just a hole.

 _Classy,_ Emma thinks sarcastically.

There's a window in the room, which Emma walks towards and peers out of. It overlooks the forest, which has a river running through it, Emma can see. She imagines Snow, David and Killian in the forest, and wonders what they're doing. Are they trying to find a way to save her? Are they focusing their efforts on finding the pocket-watch so that they can go back to the present? God, she wishes that she could be with them right now, instead of hauled up in this castle knowing that she's fucking up the future.

Regina knows her now. Regina knows her face. When Emma takes Henry back to Storybrooke after he finds her in Boston, Regina will recognise her. Then what will happen? And that's the very least of what will change. Emma still might screw more things up while she's here. Knowing her, she probably will. Knowing her, she'll piss off Regina and end up with a livid Evil Queen wanting her head on a platter.

Oh God, what if she gets killed?

Her family better be find a way to save her. Soon.

Emma considers climbing out of the window, but even if she wanted to, it's blocked by steel bars. She shakes them, testing their strength, only to discover that they're too strong for her to bend. She could probably try to remove them with magic, but then what would she do? She's three floors high. Even if she survived the jump, her legs certainly wouldn't, and how would she walk through the forest to her family with broken legs?

No. Escaping through the window isn't an option.

Emma sighs and begins to pace the room. When she had woken up this morning, the thought that she might end up in the Enchanted Forest, as a prisoner in the Evil Queen's castle, by the end of the day had never entered her mind. Sometimes she missed her old life, in Boston, where everything was much simpler. This is one of those times. In Boston, she'd never accidentally sent herself back in time to a land with magic.

She tries to think 'what would Regina do', but her mind comes up blank. All she can think is: 'Regina wouldn't be in this situation in the first place', which isn't very helpful at all. It's not even been a day yet, and she already misses Regina and her logical thinking and magical expertise. She wonders what present-day Regina is doing right now. Or will the impact of Emma being in the past have already taken effect? Maybe present-day Regina is different now. Maybe present-day Regina's life has changed because of Emma being in the past. Emma needs to find a way back, right now, so that she can fix everything that she's messed up.

She looks at the closed door, wanting nothing more than to escape, and finally gets an idea. The guard has left her room unguarded, rather ironically, which means that, if Emma can open the door, then she could attempt a great escape. Sure, she doesn't know her way through the castle, but Emma can be stealthy. She can creep through the halls until she finds an escape route, then run to her family and find a way home.

Emma smiles to herself, determined to make use of this window of opportunity. She tiptoes over to the door and listens for a moment, just making sure that there's no one lingering outside. Silence greets her, so she lifts her hand, palm facing the door, and focuses her magic on trying to slide the bolt and unlock the door.

It's more difficult than she would hope, mostly because she can't see the bolt that she's trying to move, but she eventually hears a satisfying click as she succeeds. She smiles to herself. _So far, so good._

She raises her hand carefully to the door handle, not daring to make a decibel of noise. She pushes down on the handle, wincing when it creaks slightly, then pulls the door open, just enough that she can put an eye to the gap and make sure that the hall is empty.

It is.

Emma grins, liking how her plan is starting. She's done two steps of her mission so far: One, unlock the door; two, open it. With that in mind, she has a 100 per cent success rate.

Finding new confidence in her achievements so far, she opens the door widely and takes a step-

Then stops when she almost walks into the Evil Queen. _The Evil Queen_! What the hell is she doing here? She's standing just outside Emma's door, looking at her with her arms folded across her chest and a smirk playing on her face.

"Going somewhere?" Regina asks smugly, making Emma swallow. Regina's lifts an eyebrow and takes a step forward, which makes Emma step backwards. "What I want to know is," Regina says, leaning against the door frame. "if you're from a land without magic, then how do you have magic, dear?"

Emma narrows her eyes, infuriated that she got caught, and annoyed that Regina actually thinks she would answer her questions. Emma has no intention of telling the Evil Queen anything, but now she's trapped in this room with a woman who is notoriously evil. It's a dangerous position to be in, and Emma knows that she needs to escape somehow.

If only she could stun Regina, just for a minute, so that she could make a run for it. But how could she do that?

 _Magic._

Emma's lips twitch upwards slightly, making Regina tilt her head. Then, without any warning, Emma lifts her hand and wills her magic to come, intending to send it at Regina. Of course, Emma should have known that she didn't stand a chance against the Evil Queen.

In lightening speed, Regina's hands are raised too, but she's much quicker at summoning her magic. Before Emma even knows what's happening, she's being sent flying backwards so that she crashes into the wall at the other side of the room. The impact causes her to grunt, but she stifles the yelp of pain that threatens to escape her mouth, for the sake of dignity. She waits for her feet to hit the floor, but they never do. Regina has her pinned to the wall.

Emma opens her eyes, not even knowing when she had closed them, just in time to see Regina walking towards her until she's dangerously close.

"If you try that again I swear to the Gods that I will rip your throat out, do you understand me?" Regina hisses, standing so close to Emma that the blonde can feel the brunette's warmth radiating from her.

Emma wants to fight, not wanting to seem weak, but she can't move a muscle from the way that Regina is magically restraining her. Arguing in such a vulnerable position would just be stupid, so she reluctantly tries to nod, and fails, because Regina is holding her so firmly.

"Yes." Emma forces out instead.

Regina smiles, but it's dark and evil. "Good. Now, you're going to answer my questions. What's your name?"

Emma bites her tongue, not wanting to reveal anything. She's all too aware of the fact that the timeline is probably already screwed beyond repair, but that doesn't mean she has to tell Regina any more that would ruin the future.

Her refusal to answer only angers Regina though, and she feels an invisible force begin to squeeze her airway so that breathing becomes harder.

"Answer. Me." Regina says, her voice low and dangerous.

Emma grits her teeth and tries to decide whether or not she should give a false name. But if she _did_ lie, and Regina found out, she would be killed on the spot. Besides, Regina's already seen her face, so what harm could knowing her name do?

"Emma Swan."

Regina tilts her head to the side and studies her, maybe trying to decide if she's lying, or maybe she's trying to match the name to the face. "Emma. How charming."

 _You have no idea,_ Emma thinks to herself, knowing that this Regina has no idea that Emma is the daughter of Snow White (her nemesis), and Prince Charming.

"So, _Em-ma_ , where are you from?"

"I've already told you, I'm from a land without magic."

Emma feels her throat tighten again and she tries to gasp a breath. "I told you not to lie to me."

"I'm not lying!"

Breathing becomes even harder as her throat tightens more. Now every breath she takes sounds more like a wheeze. "If you were from a land without magic then you wouldn't possess it. Now tell me the truth before I kill you."

"I really am from... a land without magic." Emma says, only able to speak in small sections due to the lack of air she's getting.. "But I was born here! In the Enchanted Forest. I was sent to the other land... as a baby... and grew up there..., but I was born _here_."

Thankfully, the force on her airway loosens and she can breathe properly again, but Regina doesn't look any less annoyed, just more interested. "That still doesn't explain how you have magic. _I_ have magic because my mother had magic, but what about you?"

"I'm the product of True Love." Emma says quietly.

Regina's eyes look away for a moment, and Emma wonders if she's thinking about Daniel. That's the whole reason that the Evil Queen is evil, right? She's mourning the loss of her true love in an extreme way. While Regina looks away wistfully, Emma lets herself relax slightly. It only lasts a moment though, because then Regina's eyes are back on her.

"The product of True Love. How sweet." It couldn't come out more sarcastic if Regina tried. "So your magic is innate?"

"Yes." Emma confirms.

"Magic needs to be learnt. It takes time to learn how to summon magic, how to control it. How did you learn in a land without magic?"

Now's when Emma had no choice but to lie. "I learned here. In the Enchanted Forest."

"You must be a fast learner." Regina says, eyes narrowed.

Emma tries to shrug, but struggles to because she's still pinned against the wall. "I had a good teacher."

Regina nods slightly, but still doesn't release Emma. She looks up at the blonde, watching her closely for a while, making Emma feel incredibly self-conscious. Eventually, she speaks. "I can't figure you out."

"What do you mean?"

"There's something that makes you different, but I don't know what it is."

Emma frowns, incredibly confused. "Different than what?"

"Everybody else." Regina says simply.

Emma doesn't know if she's different in a good way or a bad way. Knowing how Regina feels about Emma, it's probably different in an annoying way.

A strange look crosses Regina's face, as if she's just remembering something, then her face hardens. It's almost like she just remembered that she's supposed to be evil, that she's supposed to be displaying her power over Emma. Whatever it is, it makes Emma nervous.

"I don't know what to do with you." Regina says thoughtfully. "Do I let you live," Regina's eyes darken as she smiles sadistically. "Or do I kill you?"

Emma wants to roll her eyes, already sick of Regina acting all evil when she knows that she has the ability to be good. Regina just doesn't know that yet. "Maybe you should just let me go." She suggests hopefully. Regina just looks amused at the suggestion, which makes Emma sigh. "Please, Regina-"

Emma doesn't get chance to finish her sentence because Regina turns her hand to a fist and, when she does, Emma's throat closes completely. She can't breathe at all, which makes her panic and gasp for the air that she can't get.

"Who the _hell_ do you think you are?!" Regina yells. "You do not call me 'Regina'. You call me 'Your majesty' or 'my queen'. Nothing else, you ignorant swine. Do you understand that?"

Regina gives Emma the tiniest bit of air; just enough that Emma can croak out a 'yes.'

"You think that you can trespass on _my_ land, refuse to answer _my_ questions, try to use magic against _me_ , call me something as informal as my first name. You're unbelievable. Do I really need to remind you that you're my prisoner? I could kill you with a flick of my wrist and I won't bat an eyelid. I'm a queen, Emma, and if you don't treat me like one then you won't see sunlight again. Have I made myself clear?"

"Crystal." Emma chokes.

That's when Regina's magic lets go of Emma completely. Emma falls to the floor on her hands and knees, immediately taking in the deep lungfuls of air that she's been deprived of. She's aware of Regina watching her the entire time that she gets her breath back, and she finds herself detesting the woman.

Once Emma's lungs are satisfied, she closes her eyes in relief and lets her head fall forward. She only stays like that for a moment, before she forces herself to stand up, determined not to appear weak in front of the Evil Queen.

"You might be attractive, but your personality is foul." Regina says, shaking her head in disapproval. If Emma hadn't just almost been strangled, she might have spent some time thinking about the fact that Regina had just called her attractive. But, as things stood, she didn't even absorb that fact. "I need to decide what to do with you, but until I do, I can't have you using magic again."

Regina holds her hand out, palm-up, and something appears in it. Emma doesn't know what it is until Regina takes her hand and lifts it. Emma is too surprised that the Evil Queen is touching her to understand what's happening, but then a cuff is put on her wrist which she recognises immediately. Zelena had had to wear it in Camelot. It was the magic-suppressing cuff. Emma closes her eyes and lets out a frustrated sigh, then looks at Regina, who's smirking at her. When they make eye contact, Regina lets go of her hand and walks to the door.

"You know, you're sexy when you're angry." Regina says absently. She turns around to face her when she's in the doorway. "I might keep that in mind whilst deciding what to do with you."

Without another word, Regina leaves the room and slams the door with magic. Emma hears the click of the bolt being slid into place, and clenches her jaw. She walks over to the door and tries the handle, already knowing that it'll be locked. Then she tries in vain to summon some magic, already knowing what the outcome will be. As suspected, nothing happens.

"Damn it!" Emma shouts, clenching her fist and banging the side of it against the door.

She runs a hand through her hair, all hope of escape having disappeared with Regina. Now she was stuck here, with her fate in the hands of the Evil Queen.

In the present, Regina might be her best friend, but in the past, Emma is quickly discovering that she _hates_ the Evil Queen. She makes her so angry with her cruel methods and sadistic ways. That woman really doesn't care about anyone and has no empathy. And why is she keeping Emma in this room, instead of the dungeon? Why isn't she just punishing her and getting it over with?

 _Wait, had Regina just called her sexy?_

* * *

 **A/N:** **I hope you leave a review to let me know what you thought. What do you think Regina's going to do with Emma? :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Emma goes all night without being disturbed, with the exception of a grumpy guard dropping off some food for her.

It had been a tray with soup and bread on it, with a small glass of water. She hadn't eaten it right away, telling herself that, if she went on a hunger strike, then she might be released sooner. But as daylight started to filter into the room, she had been so hungry that her stomach was actually hurting. She had wolfed down the meal, scolding herself for being weak the entire time.

She then got a couple of hours of sleep, but is woken to the sound of the door being unlocked. She opens her eyes and turns her head, just as the door opens to reveal a guard. It's impossible to know if it's the same one who found her in the forest, or the one who brought her food, because they all wear helmets that cover their face. But this one is holding some shackles in one hand, dangling them dauntingly.

"The queen has requested your presence at breakfast." He says.

Emma looks back at the ceiling, trying to contain her anger. Regina had almost strangled her yesterday, and now she wants her to join her for breakfast? What the hell is wrong with this woman? Does she seriously expect Emma to happily go and eat with her? She doesn't want to be around Regina at all, never mind for a civilised breakfast.

Besides, Emma doesn't want to alter the timeline any more than she already has. It would be better if she stays out of Regina's way until she had been given her punishment, so that she won't affect anything else. She also has to try to make as little an impression on Regina as possible, so that Regina won't remember her, so steering clear of her would probably be the way to do that.

"Tell her that I said no." Emma says simply.

"It's not a question. It's an order."

Emma shakes her head, slightly amused that the guard expects her to do whatever the queen says. "I don't take orders from Regina. She's not my queen."

"I was hoping you'd say that." The smirk can practically be heard in the guard's voice.

Emma tilts her head to the side, confused about what that means. But then the guard is moving, and there's something big and black in his hand, and it's coming towards Emma.

Emma feels something hit her head, then a jolt of pain shoots through her. She looks up, but the room is already starting to spin.

Then, _darkness_.

* * *

When Emma wakes up, she's being carried. One guard has his hands under her armpits, another has her ankles. They're walking down a corridor, with a window-lined wall, which Emma manages to peer out of. They're still several floors up, but she doesn't know how many. All she knows is that her head hurts and she feels rough.

"Oh good. You're awake." The guard at her feet says, then her legs are dropped. They hit the floor hard, as she hadn't been expecting it, but the guard near her head keeps hold of her.

"Careful. She's heavy." That guard says.

 _Cheeky bastard._

"She can walk." The other guard says, then he stalks off in the other direction.

"Lazy git." The remaining guard says, then places Emma down outside a set of double doors.

She finally gains her senses enough that she can stand up, which she does almost immediately after the guard puts her on the floor. She stands uncomfortably, not knowing where they are or what they're doing, while the guard knocks on the door. Moments later, Regina's voice instructs them to come in.

The guard opens the door and pushes Emma in ahead of him, then he steps in behind her. Emma looks around the room, expecting them to be in a dining hall. Instead, she finds herself standing in Regina's bedchambers.

The room is mostly navy blue and black, the only thing light being the sun filtering through the window. There's a four poster bed on one side of the room, which looks like it's king-sized. Very big for just one person, Emma thinks. On the opposite side of the room is a large fireplace, with two armchairs facing it. Next to that, a bookshelf filled with more books than Emma's read in her life. There's a vanity table with a mirror, and Emma finds herself uncomfortable with the thought of Sidney lurking behind the glass. There's also a perfectly carved wardrobe, which doesn't look big enough to fit all of Regina's elaborate dresses. Magic is probably involved somehow.

And then, of course, there's Regina. She's sitting at a table, only big enough for two people, which sits in front of a window. Obviously she's been looking out of it, but she turns around as Emma enters. She's wearing a simple, dark blue, velvet dress, which hugs her body from head to toe. Her hair isn't pulled up in the in a fancy up-do, but only the top half of it is pulled up. The rest flows down her back.

Emma feels that this must be the Evil Queen's version of casual clothes. The annoying thing is that her mouth goes dry at the sight of her. She looks amazing, younger somehow, and more like the Regina in Storybrooke. Emma bites down on her lip, willing herself to hate the woman, which doesn't take much. It's easy to hate someone who's evil.

"There you are." Regina says, standing up from the table. "I was expecting you to be kicking and screaming at the prospect of having to see me." She takes slow and deliberate steps towards Emma, her face morphing into an expression of exaggerated sympathy. "Actually, it seems that you did put up some protest." She stops walking a few steps away from Emma. "If you'd just come quietly, like a good little girl, that nasty cut could have been avoided."

Nasty cut? Whatever she had been hit by the guard with must have cut her skin.

Regina looks at the guard. "Will you clean her face? The blood is incredibly off-putting."

Blood? Is that what's dripping down her cheek? There's not a lot of it, but enough that Emma can feel it. She brings a hand to her head, carefully running her fingers over the torn skin. She winces and drops her hand again, noticing that it comes away with blood on her fingers. Disgustingly, Regina's eyes light up at her obvious discomfort.

They must have prepared for such an event as this one, because there's a bucket of water with a cloth in it next to the door. The guard grabs the cloth and rubs Emma's face with it, with not the slightest bit of gentleness. Emma winces and recoils, but the guard just rubs harder. When he pulls the cloth away, it's got a large red patch on it.

Another cloth comes to her face, this one dry, and then Emma is clean. Regina doesn't even watch this event occurring, instead opting to look at her nails with a lack of interest.

Once the guard steps away from Emma, Regina looks at her again. "Such a shame that had to happen. You're such a pretty little thing, but that injury makes you look like a commoner."

"Why am I here?" Emma asks, cutting to the chase. She'd rather sit alone in her room than be here, with the Evil Queen.

"All will be revealed in due course, dear." Regina assures her. "There's no rush, is there? It's not like you have anywhere to be." Regina smirks at her own words, which makes Emma scowl. She hates this woman so much, which annoys her because she looks so much like Regina, (because she _is_ Regina), who Emma admires and respects.

Emma doesn't want to hate Regina, _any_ version of Regina, but she sees it happening thanks to the Evil Queen.

Regina turns to the guard, who is standing by the wall behind Emma. "You can leave us now."

"Should I put the shackles on her?" The guard asks, as if Emma isn't standing right next to him.

"That depends," Regina turns to Emma. "Are you going to behave yourself?"

The stubborn streak in Emma wants to say no, but the much larger streak in her, the one who doesn't want to be shackled like a common criminal, wins out. She nods her head, showing that she will behave.

For now.

The guard nods his head and leaves, closing the door behind him. Then, Emma and Regina are alone. Regina turns around, walking back over to the table. Emma stays where she is and watches, her eyes dropping to Regina's body, which looks sinfully good in her figure-hugging dress. It's only when Regina gets to the table that Emma hastily moves her eyes back to her face before she can be caught checking out the Evil Queen.

"Care to join me?" Regina says, indicating to the seat across from her.

Emma goes to the seat and sits down. On the table, there are two bowls of fruit salad, with a knife and fork on either side. Regina picks up her fork to start to eat, but Emma ignores it and stares at Regina indignantly.

"Now you must know why I detest my moniker so much." She says, moving some fruit around with her fork. "'The Evil Queen'? I'm hardly evil. I give orders and, if they are not obeyed, people get punished. You disobeyed, so you got punished." She uses her fork to indicate the area on Emma's head where her injury is. "Does that not sound fair to you?"

"Maybe people call you evil because you kill innocent people." Emma suggests casually.

Regina looks at her, seemingly confused by the statement. "Are you talking about the gardener that I sent for execution at yesterday's hearing? He was stealing my roses for potpourri. He was hardly an innocent, dear."

Emma clenches her jaw in disbelief. "It was hardly a crime worthy of death."

Regina's head tilts to one side. "Well, that's for me to decide." She says firmly, then looks back down at her fruit salad. She eats a couple of bites. She moves some chunks of food around with her fork. She sighs. Emma watches her the whole time, wondering what it is that Regina wants to say. Finally, the brunette speaks, but still stares at her bowl. "I'm thinking about the future." _Trust me, so am I_ , Emma thinks. "When I punish people like that. If I show the tiniest bit of weakness, the tiniest bit of lenience, then people will start to think that they can get away with murder."

"But only you can do that, right?"

When Regina looks back at her, there's unmistakable anger in her eyes. Emma's pushing her buttons, and she knows it, but she can't stand being around someone so evil. The Evil Queen is so self-centred, and Emma can hardly stand to be around her. She misses present-day Regina.

"I thought that I told you to treat me like the queen that I am." Regina says with gritted teeth.

"You did." Emma confirms with a shrug.

"Do you not think that I'm serious when I threaten you?" Regina asks. "Because I can assure you that I am deadly serious. If you don't respect me then there will be consequences."

Emma glances at the table and notices that Regina's fist is now clenched, making her knuckles white. Man, she really has annoyed her.

"I'm going to give you one more chance." Regina says, moving her hand into her lap. "After that, I swear that you will regret disrespecting me. Do you understand?"

The dangerous look in Regina's eyes chooses Emma's answer for her. "Yes."

"'Yes' what?"

Emma frowns, not knowing what Regina means. This causes the queen to scowl and continue to stare at her, waiting for her to speak. After a few seconds of awkwardly looking at Regina, not knowing what is expected of her, she finally realises what the brunette is waiting for. "Yes, your majesty."

Regina doesn't look any less annoyed, but she pulls her eyes away from Emma's and starts to eat again. "Aren't you going to eat your breakfast? I would hate for it to go to waste."

Emma doesn't want to eat, but she also knows that the frequency in which she will be offered meals is unpredictable in this castle, with the Evil Queen. If she doesn't eat now, then who knows when she'll be offered another meal? Emma picks up her fork with one hand, finding the knife that's next to her completely unnecessary.

Wait... there's a knife next to her. A perfect weapon. If she can just lunge at Regina with it, she could do some damage. Not a lot, just enough that she could try to run. The guards had left them, after all. It's the perfect escape plan.

She puts her hand on the table next to the knife. She just needs to wait for the perfect moment so that-

Emma's thoughts are abruptly cut short when a knife enters the table millimetres away from her hand. She flinches and looks up at Regina, who's just almost taken off her finger by digging the blade of the knife forcefully into the wood of the table. Regina is looking at her, eyes dark.

"Don't even think about it." Regina growls, and Emma knows exactly what she means. All Emma wants to know is, how did Regina know that she was planning on attacking her with her own knife?

Emma timidly pulls her hand back, putting it in her lap. Her heart's racing, fully aware of the fact that she could have lost a finger or two if Regina's knife had been a centimetre to the right.

"You're an ungrateful fool, you know that?" Regina says, turning back to her breakfast. She leaves the knife in the table, almost as a warning. "I feel that I'm being rather hospitable and what do I get in return? Escape attempts and a near-attack?

"You're keeping me prisoner." Emma reminds her.

"Technicalities." Regina waves her hand dismissively. "I'm honestly getting a little tired of you arguing with me at every corner. Just shut up and eat."

Emma frowns, not appreciating being told what to do, but looks down at her bowl anyway. It has grapes in it, along with strawberries, banana and...

"Is that apple?" Emma asks, moving it with her fork.

This seems to lighten Regina's mood. "Yes. Grown in my own orchard. It'll be the best apple you've ever tasted, I can assure you."

Emma pushes the bowl away from herself and leans back in her seat. "No thanks."

"Excuse me?"

"Everyone knows that you shouldn't trust apples given to you by the Evil Queen. I know what you do to apples." She knows all too well. She's almost been a victim of Regina's apple before, but Henry took that responsibility from her.

Speaking of the Evil Queen's apples, has Regina put Snow White under the sleeping curse yet? Emma still doesn't know where exactly in the timeline she is, so she doesn't know what has and hasn't happened. The original timeline is also quite hazy in Emma's mind, seeing as she didn't live through it the first time. Her only guide to the order of events is what she remembers from Henry's storybook, which she knows isn't 100% reliable in the first place.

Regina frowns at her. "It's not poisoned, if that's what you're insinuating."

"Forgive me for not believing you." Emma says stubbornly.

Regina rolls her eyes, but waves her hand over Emma's bowl. When Emma looks back into it, the apple is gone. Regina takes a sip of water, then shakes her head at Emma. "I'm starting to think that you're more trouble than you're worth."

 _Good_ , Emma thinks. _Maybe I'll get out of here sooner_.

"And what exactly am I worth?" Emma asks. "Why am I here?"

"Why are you where? In the castle, or joining me for breakfast?"

"Both."

"You're in the castle because you intrigue me." Regina says, leaning back in her seat. "And I called you to breakfast to tell you what's going to happen to you. Speaking of which, I may as well tell you now, before you try to attack me with your fork." Emma raises her eyebrows, happy that she's finally going to get her punishment and, hopefully, leave.

"OK. So what's happening to me?"

"You're staying here."

And just like that, Emma's hope is squashed. "What do you mean I'm staying here?"

"I mean that you won't be leaving this castle." Regina says with an unkind smile. "I get bored in this castle on my own-"

"You're not on your own. You have guards and servants."

"I have staff." Regina interjects. "Rather dull staff, at that, who do my bidding and nothing else. As I said, I get bored. That's where you come in. When I get bored, I'm going to call on you and you can..." Regina pauses, as if for effect. "Entertain me."

Emma's heart starts to speed up. She doesn't like the sound of this. "So I'm your plaything?"

Regina smirks. "Something like that."

"And how, exactly, am I supposed to entertain you?" Emma asks, already dreading the answer.

Regina lifts a shoulder, then lets her eyes drop. They move over Emma's body, as much of it can be seen over the table, with a look that can only be described as predatory. Emma shifts, uncomfortable with the Evil Queen looking at her like that. When Regina's eyes lock with Emma's again, she smiles at Emma. "I'm sure you'll find a way."

Emma swallows, suddenly remembering that Regina had called her sexy yesterday. Well, sexy when she's angry, but still sexy. And now Regina is looking at her like she is mentally undressing her, and Emma starts to feel hot. Is Regina seriously doing what she thinks she's doing? Insinuating that Emma will be entertaining her sexually while she's here? Emma's cheeks start to feel warm, and she can only hope that she isn't blushing.

"I-" She tries, not knowing what to say. "I don't- I- I- You can't-"

"Hush, dear." Regina interrupts. "You sound like a mumbling fool."

"You can't just keep me here and use me whenever you feel like it! I'm a person, not a possession!"

"Actually, I can do whatever I please with you." Regina says, standing up. "Which brings me to my first order of business. Come over here."

Regina walks away from the table, across the room to where a full-length mirror stands. Once she's there, she turns to look at Emma expectantly, who's still sitting in her seat. She motions for Emma to come, but Emma stays still, staring blankly at the Evil Queen. This can't be happening. This woman can't actually expect to keep Emma like some sort of pet.

If Regina knew that her past-self was doing this, then would she be embarrassed? Ashamed? Did she do this a lot, back in the day?

 _Do what a lot?_ Emma asks herself. She still doesn't really know what is happening. The Evil Queen may have looked at her in a sexual way when she'd asked how she was supposed to entertain her, but she does that with everyone, right? If there's one thing Emma knows about this woman, it's that she uses sexuality as a weapon. Because, surely Regina isn't actually attracted to her. The only reason that Emma thought she was, even for a minute, was wishful thinking on her part. Lord knows, Emma has spent a lot of time fantasising about Regina being attracted to her, and the things that they could do if she was. But those fantasies were always _Regina_ , not the Evil Queen. And even her fantasies about Regina was just because she was hot as hell, so who wouldn't want to kiss her? That's all... obviously... Emma was with Killian.

Sure, the Evil Queen is sexy and seductive, but Emma wouldn't actually want anything to happen with her, would she? No, the Evil Queen is... well, evil. Emma can't be attracted to somebody so evil.

Emma is startled out of her thoughts when she's suddenly moving. Well, the chair that she's sitting in is moving, the legs scraping across the floor towards the mirror. Regina is standing and watching, looking frustrated that she's having to apply her magic to do something so stupid, but still doing it nevertheless.

When Emma is a few feet away from the mirror, the chair that she is sitting in is tipped up so that she falls to the floor. She grunts when she lands heavily, barely having enough time to use her hands to block her fall. When she's lying on the hard floor, she takes a second to release a frustrated breath, annoyed at her treatment by the Evil Queen. But she only lets herself stay down for a moment, then she's pushing herself up again.

"What are you doing?" Emma asks, as Regina turns to the mirror, urging Emma to do the same until they're both looking at their reflections.

"Look at yourself." Regina says. "You've got so much potential." The brunette's eyes drop to Emma's body and she begins to walk in a slow circle around the blonde, her eyes raking over Emma from head to toe. "Yet you waste it."

"Potential for what?" Emma asks, watching as Regina ends up in front, blocking her view of her own reflection.

"Beauty." Regina says simply.

She lifts a hand to Emma's cheek, but Emma moves her head away, not wanting to be touched by the Evil Queen. Regina closes her hand mid-air. "Hm."She tilts her head and bites the inside of her lip, looking at Emma with an unreadable expression.

"What do you want from me?" Emma asks, her voice sounding more desperate than she had intended.

"Right now? Nothing." Regina admits. "But if you're going to be staying, then you need to blend in a bit more. You stick out like a sore thumb here in those... _strange_ garments, and I think you would benefit from at least looking like you belong here."

Regina moves again, this time stopping when she's behind Emma. Emma feels Regina's hands on her back, moving upwards to her shoulders, then Regina's mouth is next to her ear. "That's why these clothes have to go." Regina breathes, her breath tickling Emma's neck.

Emma's breath catches in her throat when Regina tugs at her jacket, taking it off her shoulders and delicately pulling it down her arms. Emma looks at her reflection in the mirror, seeing Regina walking back around her, so that she's in front of her again. This time, Regina is holding her jacket.

"What do you mean?" Emma finally manages to get out, feeling cold in just her tank top.

"Your clothes are hideous." Regina says bluntly, looking with distaste at Emma's red leather jacket. Apparently, some things never change, like Regina's hatred for Emma's jacket. Regina tosses it to the side, then turns back to Emma. "I have something else for you to wear. Something that will make you look like you belong here, like you're from the Enchanted Forest. You won't draw so much attention to yourself if you wear that."

Regina nods towards the bed and, when Emma looks, she notices a red dress has been laid out. Was that there when she'd come in? She hadn't noticed it.

Then, Regina walks away from her, making her frown in confusion. The brunette walks to one of the arm chairs near the fireplace, turns it around, and then sits in it so that she's facing Emma. Emma just looks at her for a few moments, not knowing what's going on, but then Regina pulls a face that says 'what are you waiting for?' and instructs: "Put on the dress."

"Right now?" Emma asks, starting to feel incredibly uncomfortable.

"Yes."

"In front of you?"

"Do you have a problem with that, dear?"

Does she have a problem with it? Of course she has a problem with it! Why on earth would she want to undress in front of somebody, let alone the Evil Queen? This is still Regina Mills. The sexy, beautiful, flawless woman who makes Emma feel inadequate, and she wants her to undress for her? It's ridiculous and inappropriate and Emma won't do it.

"Yes, actually." Emma says challengingly, making Regina raise in eyebrow in surprise.

"Is that so? Let me put it this way, dear, you can either take your clothes off yourself, or I'll have one of my fireballs _burn_ them off for you."

Emma continues to look at Regina, willing to call her bluff. That is, until Regina holds her hand out and creates a fireball, and then Emma can't unbutton her jeans quickly enough. She doesn't make eye contact as she's pulling her jeans down, but she does feel her face heating up.

Regina is Regina, no matter if she's in the past, present or future. She's still the most stunning woman that Emma has ever seen, with a body to die for. Whereas Emma's just... Emma. She's not bad to look at, but she's nothing compared to Regina.

She kicks her boots off, then peels her jeans off her ankles. While she's doing it, all she can think is that this is Regina. Regina, the mayor of Storybrooke. Regina, her son's other mother. Regina, her best friend. Sure, _this_ Regina isn't any of those things _yet_ , but she will be. And now she's seeing Emma undressing and Emma wants nothing more than the ground to swallow her up. This is humiliating, and it makes Emma hate the Evil Queen even more.

"Do you make all of your prisoners do this?" Emma asks, still not making eye contact with the other woman. "Undress for you?"

"No." Regina replies casually, as if this were an everyday occurrence. "You're one of the lucky few."

Emma scoffs. "Lucky."

"Some people would be honoured to have the attraction of their queen."

It's not the first time that Regina has said that she's attracted to Emma, but this time, it really hits home. Maybe it's because Emma had just been thinking about the fact that this was Regina, _her_ Regina, that she's now realising that, although Regina may not be the same as the Evil Queen anymore, primarily because she isn't evil, they're still fundamentally the same person. The same likes and dislikes, the same taste in food, the same love for apples. So does that mean...

No...

Does that mean that the Regina in Storybrooke, the mayor, Emma's best friend, the mother of her son... is attracted to her?

It's only when the queen tilts her head to one side with a look of confusion that Emma realises that she's turned around at some point, and is now staring at Regina as if she's grown two heads. Emma clenches her jaw, feeling embarrassed, mostly because she doesn't have any trousers on anymore. All she can think to say is, "You're not my queen." Then she looks away again.

She looks down at catches sight of her legs, on full display. They look paler than they usually do, or maybe she's just more aware of how pale they are now because she can feel Regina's eyes on them. At least she'd shaved a couple of days ago, so they are still smooth. Still, this was the first time she'd ever felt self-conscious about her legs.

Her hands find their way to the hem of her tank top, but before she can pull it up, she looks back at Regina. It's a pleading look, a 'please don't make me do this' look. But Regina just stares back at her with steely determination, and Emma knows that she isn't going to get out of this that easily. She sighs and turns her head away, breaking eye contact while she pulls her tank top over her head.

The cold hits her almost immediately. She's standing too far away from the fireplace for it to have any sort of effect on her, so the chilly air hits her body and makes her shiver. She looks down at herself, now standing only in her bra and panties. She's horrified to see that the bra she had chosen to wear is white, with tiny milkshakes on it, a joke gift from Ruby; whereas her panties are black with red spots, which doesn't match her bra in the slightest. To be fair, when she'd chosen her underwear, she hadn't been expecting _anyone_ to see them, let alone the Evil Queen.

Emma feels like she's standing like that for hours, looking down at her mostly-naked body, mortified, before Regina finally decides to speak.

"Cute." She says, and when Emma looks up, Regina motions to the underwear she's wearing. It's clearly sarcastic and deprecating, so Emma blushes and uses her arms to hug herself, covering as much of her body as she can.

It's the dark smirk on Regina's face that makes Emma realise why she's doing this. It's to make her feel weak and vulnerable, so that the Evil Queen can feel powerful. Everything with this woman is a power game, and Emma should know that by now. She's trying to show Emma who's in charge here, and Emma is playing right into her hands.

That's why Emma should have known not to show weakness, because that's what the Evil Queen feeds off. But it's too late for that now. "Look who's suddenly shy." Regina says with a dark chuckle.

"I'm not. It's just..." Emma sighs and shakes her head.

"Just..." Regina urges.

"It doesn't matter."

"No, do go on, dear."

Emma sighs and turns around, grabbing the dress from the bed. "You look disappointed." She says quietly, embarrassed to voice it aloud.

"Whatever do you mean?" Regina asks.

"You're looking at my body and... you don't look attracted to me, you just look... disappointed." Emma busies herself trying to find the part of the dress where she could put it over her head, pleased with the distraction from looking at Regina's reaction to her confession.

Just because she can't see Regina doesn't mean she can't hear her. She hears the sigh from Regina's direction, and feels pathetic for saying what she had said. "Do you _want_ me to be attracted to you?"

Emma turns to look at Regina, whose eyes are narrowed at her. She thinks about it, but can't reach an answer. Does she? She knows that she shouldn't, but there's a small part of her that kind of does...

Emma shrugs the thought out of her mind, not wanting to confuse herself. She hates the Evil Queen. End of story. It would be better not to let her lust get involved.

"No." Emma says firmly, trying more to convince herself than Regina. "I just don't like people looking at my body like they've just opened a Christmas present and realised they've been given socks."

Regina's head tilts to the side, and she looks at Emma like she's speaking a foreign language. Then, she shakes her head, as if she doesn't even want to know what Emma is talking about. "If you must know, dear, I think you have a lovely body. It's your undergarments that I'm not particularly fond of. They make you look like an overgrown child. But apart from those," Regina's eyes drop to Emma's body and drink her in. "I most certainly approve." She practically purrs.

Emma swallows and finally pulls the dress over her head, willing to do anything to hide the blush appearing on her cheeks. The dress is red, long and puffy, so it takes her a while to get it on properly, but she eventually does. It's almost identical to the dress that she'd worn when she'd last come back to the past, with Killian, when she'd been arrested by the Evil Queen's guards at the ball. Her mind is thrown back to that night, and she realises that she's in a strangely similar position again. Arrested by the Evil Queen, hoping that Killian (or her parents) would save her.

She turns to look at herself in the mirror and smiles at the sight of herself. She looks slightly strange, seeing as she's wearing a formal dress, but her hair is tied back into a messy ponytail and she's not wearing any makeup and she has a cut on her head from when the guard knocked her out. It's a weird combination of casual, bordering scruffy, and fancy.

"See?" Regina appears at her side. "Don't you look wonderful? So much better than you did in those," She waves at the pile of Emma's old clothes. " _Things_."

Emma doesn't reply, can't think of anything to say, but she continues to look at her reflection. She only looks away from herself when Regina starts to move, and she instead looks at the brunette's reflection. She watches as Regina walks to the back of her, then Regina's hands are on her shoulders, brushing out imaginary wrinkles in the fabric.

"Mmm." Regina hums, running her hands down Emma's back. "You're definitely going to wear this again." Regina steps to the side of Emma and looks at her, making Emma move her eyes away from the mirror to look at Regina. "But for now:" She clicks her fingers.

And now Emma is no longer wearing the red dress, but is instead wearing some grey riding pants with a loose-fitting white shirt tucked into them, with black knee-high boots. She looks at herself in disbelief for a second, feeling anger swell in her, then turns her body towards Regina.

"Why the hell didn't you just do that in the first place? Why make me undress for you when you could have just clicked your fingers and put me in the damn red dress?"

Regina innocently lifts a shoulder. "I just wanted to see what I was working with."

"What are you even _talking_ about?"

"I just needed to make sure that you would suffice." Regina says putting her hands on Emma's shoulders and stepping into her space. "And, trust me, you'll _more_ than suffice."

Emma doesn't know what's happening, and it makes her want to scream, but she's knocked speechless when Regina starts leaning towards her. She watches in disbelief as Regina's face gets closer and closer to hers, and then suddenly, plump, red lips are being pressed against her thin, pink ones.

Emma stands stock-still, her eyes open, unable to comprehend what's happening. She doesn't pull away, but she doesn't kiss back, which results in an awkward moment where Regina waits for her to respond.

But then a thought enters Emma's mind: _so_ this _is what it feels like to kiss Regina._

That thought is the one that makes her move, but not in the way that she expects. She always thought that, if Regina kissed her, she would kiss back with so much force, just to enjoy every moment of having such a beautiful woman kissing her. But that's not what Emma does now, because this isn't Regina, not _her_ Regina. She doesn't want her first kiss with Regina to actually be with the Evil Queen. She'd rather never get the chance to kiss the brunette than kiss her in Evil Queen form.

So, Emma puts her hands on Regina's chest and pushes her away forcefully. "What are you doing?! Get the hell away from me!"

Just like that, something in Regina changes. It's like a switch is flipped, or some shutters are brought down. One moment, Emma is faced with the intimidating Evil Queen, and the next she's faced with someone who's downright terrifying.

Emma swallows, feeling like she's made a terrible decision, which is confirmed when Regina lifts her hands and sends Emma flying across the room.

Emma's back slams into the wall so hard that she can't help but gasp. She winces, and watches helplessly as Regina walks towards her.

"You think you can reject your queen?" She asks, her face close to Emma's. "You think that you can dictate what I can and can't do to you? You're sadly mistaken. Don't you understand, Ms. Swan, that you are no longer your own person? The _second_ that you trespassed on my land, you became one of my possessions, and I do whatever the hell I like with my possessions."

Emma knows that she should just shut up and accept whatever Regina is going to do, but she can't stop her mouth from moving. "You don't own me." She croaks out.

Immediately, she feels pressure tightening her throat closed and kicks herself for allowing this to happen again.

"You're wrong." Regina says. "You have no autonomy, no freedom. You are a puppet, and I am your master, and the sooner you realise that, the easier this is going to be."

Emma is desperately trying to pull in air, but it only getting minute amounts. "Regina, please-"

Then an hand is connecting to her cheek, slapping her as hard as possible. " _Don't call me that!_ " Regina yells loudly. "I have already told you that you are only to address me as 'your majesty' or 'my queen', why is that so hard for you to understand? Are you a complete and utter idiot?"

Emma's vision is starting to get spotty and she feels as though she's about to pass out. "You're a burden, Ms. Swan," Regina says quietly. "That I don't need. You're expendable, which is bad for you, but good for me. It means that I can get rid of the dead weight any time I please. But I'm going to be generous. You can either agree to obey my every command from now on, or I'll kill you. I'm a resourceful person, which means I'd like to find a use for you, but if you don't agree to it, then I can't keep you around."

Emma lifts her hands to her throat, trying to signal that she needs air. _Now_. Regina stares at her for one more moment, then releases her. Emma falls to the floor, gasping in air. When this had happened yesterday, Emma had forced herself off the ground as soon as she could. But today, she stays there, wheezing on the floor.

"I'll give you 24 hours." Regina says, looking down at Emma with a scowl. "Then you need to tell me your decision: whether you live or die."

Emma watches as Regina walks away. She watches Regina open the door and call a guard. She hears Regina say, "Take her to the dungeon." Then she feels a guard roughly grabbing her and dragging her from the room.

Emma just lets it happen, focusing all of her energy on trying not to let her tears fall.

* * *

 **A/N: This chapter was a _nightmare_ to write. It was originally two separate chapters: one where they had breakfast in the dining hall, and another in Regina's bedroom. Then I decided to combine them into one, which meant I had to rewrite the first one and make them both blend together. Halfway through that process, my computer crashed and I lost it all, so had to redo it, with waning patience.**

 **I can't look at this chapter for another second, so I apologise if it isn't very good. On the bright side, it's long, if that's what you're into :)**

 **Thank you so much for reading. Hope to see you next time. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Emma had thought that the room that she had been dumped for her first night in the castle wasn't pleasant. All it had had was a bed and a toilet, neither of which were of high quality. She hadn't thought that it could get much worse: locked in a room, without her magic, prisoner to the Evil Queen, with none of her familiar electronics (phone, TV, laptop), not knowing where her family was, not knowing what she'd done to the future. Yes, she had thought that it couldn't get much worse.

She had been wrong.

Now, Emma longs for those circumstances. Now, Emma is being thrown into a cell in the castle's dungeon, which is _so_ much worse than her old room.

She hears the metal door slide shut behind her, then the sound of the guard locking it. Emma spins around and grabs onto the bars, trying to plead with the guard.

"Why am I here? Why can't you just take me back to my old room?"

"You heard the queen." The guard says, stepping away from her cell. "She said to bring you to the dungeon."

"I shouldn't _be_ here! Just let me talk to her again, let me try to convince her to take me back to my old room."

The guard laughs, actually laughs at her, then walks away without another word. Emma sighs and turns around, looking at her new luxurious room.

Her cell is exactly what you would expect a medieval dungeon to look like. Stone walls and floor, cold, chains attached to the wall. Emma should just consider herself lucky that she hasn't been chained up. Yet.

"Welcome to paradise, pal." She hears a sarcastic voice say from the cell next to her.

"Thanks." Emma grumbles quietly.

"What's your story?" The voice, definitely female, asks.

"Does is matter?" Emma says, not really in the mood to talk right now.

She's still livid at Regina for shoving her into the dungeon like a common criminal. She reminds herself that, to the Evil Queen, she _is_ just another prisoner, and she shouldn't expect special treatment. But it's hard when the Evil Queen looks so much like her best friend. Part of her expects to be treated differently than everyone else, but she's learning that that is ridiculous. After all, she's been strangled twice by this woman, and now she's locked in a dungeon. She certainly isn't being given VIP treatment.

Emma hears something that sounds like someone is singing. She turns around and looks in the direction of the sound, finding that it just so happens to be coming from the cell across from her. There isn't much light, so she struggles to see across the hall, but she can just about make out the shape of a man on the floor. He's singing something, but Emma has never heard it before. Obviously. She's in a different land.

"Are you _kidding_ me?" The woman in the cell next to Emma says, sounding frustrated. "Shut the hell up, Donny!"

"Does he do this a lot?" Emma asks.

"Oh, no, only _every second_ that he's awake." The woman says. "I don't know how long you're going to be down here, but you're going to love it."

Her voice is heavy with sarcasm, and Emma closes her eyes and sighs. She listens as the man, Donny, finishes his song, then as soon as he's done, he starts again from the top. It's already getting on Emma's nerves, which isn't good. She walks backwards until her back hits the wall, then she slides down until she's sitting. She already feels the dirt on her skin from the wall and floor.

This is what she gets for fighting back to the Evil Queen.

* * *

It must be the morning by now. She's been here for hours, seemingly overnight, but there aren't any windows so it's hard to tell. Still, it must be morning.

There is _nothing_ in the cell, other than a bucket, which Emma assumes is supposed to constitute for a toilet. Other than that, there is no bed, no blankets, no pillows. Just the floor and the walls, and the steel bars locking her in.

There's no heat at all, so Emma is sat in a ball in the corner of her cell, hugging her legs as tightly to her chest as possible, and shivering regardless. There's very little light, because there's no windows anywhere, so Emma can only see what the torches outside her cell illuminate, which isn't a lot. Maybe if there was more light, she'd be able to see her breath. _That's_ how cold it is.

And it's damp. Emma can hear a distant drip from somewhere, which is grating on her nerves now that she's been here for at least eighteen hours, but it's not in her cell. Despite this, the floor and walls feel slimy with moisture, and Emma doesn't know where the moisture is coming from.

The prisoners to the Evil Queen live in what can only be described as squalor, and now Emma is one of them. Part of her regrets defying the Evil Queen, because now she's here, but part of her is also glad that she challenged Regina, rather than simply complying to her. Emma is not weak. Emma stands up for herself, and is autonomous, and won't change for the Evil Queen.

Though she really wishes that she could not-change in a nicer room, with a bed and food and water.

A guard is walking down the corridor, escorting a servant with a trolley full of bowls of food for the prisoners. That's how Emma knows it's breakfast time. A bowl with some grey slop is being put in each cell... apart from Emma's. Emma is being boycotted, and the same thing had happened the night before, when the prisoners were being given their dinner. Emma had asked why she wasn't being given any food, but she had been ignored, as if she simply didn't exist.

When the woman is sliding a bowl of gruel into Donny's cell (who's currently sleeping, to Emma's relief), Emma walks over to the bars of her cell so that she can see the guard. "Are you going to give me food today?"

"No." He replies simply. At least he's answering her today. Progress.

"Why?"

"Queen's orders."

"Regina has ordered you to starve me?" Emma asks, lifting an eyebrow.

The guards closed fist hits Emma's fingers, making her retract her hand back into her cell, rubbing them. "You have been told not to address your queen by her forename." The guard says firmly.

"I'm not addressing my queen." Emma retorts. "I'm addressing you, and Regina isn't my queen."

"If you were wise, you would stop doing things to anger her majesty." The guard says. "You'll end up dead."

"I'm going to end up dead anyway if you don't feed me." Emma reminds him.

The guard shakes his head, as if with disappointment. "Just give in, peasant. Submit to the queen."

"No." Emma says stubbornly. "She's not the boss of me."

"If you really believe that, then you're even stupider than I thought." The guard says, then follows the servant with the trolley to keep handing out breakfast.

* * *

"What's that noise?" Emma hears her new-friend say.

Her name is Marie, and though Emma hasn't seen her face, she sounds young, maybe late teens. They have been participating in idle chit chat since ever since Emma has been thrown into her cell, as a way of passing time. She seems nice, but Emma knows from the way that Marie argued with one of the guards earlier that she has a feisty side.

"What noise?" Emma asks, not hearing anything out of the ordinary.

"I don't know. It's like a tapping. A really fast tapping."

Emma remains as still as possible and strains to hear the 'fast tapping' that Marie is talking about. It's only when she forces herself to stop moving that she realises that her teeth have been chattering as she shivers, and that must be the noise that the other girl is talking about.

"Oh, that's me. Sorry." Emma says, clenching her jaw to keep herself quiet from now on.

After a few more minutes of silence (with the exception of the incessant dripping that's slowly driving Emma insane), she hears a clatter from the cell next to her, which sounds like Marie's spoon being put back into her empty bowl. Emma closes her eyes as her stomach moans, but all she can see on her closed eyelids is a cheeseburger from Granny's with her name on it.

Is she hallucinating?

"I don't know what you did, but you must have really pissed off the queen." Marie says thoughtfully. "You didn't get dinner _or_ breakfast? She's mad at you."

"I disobeyed her." Emma says quietly, not offering any more detail.

"You disobeyed the Evil Queen? Are you bloody insane?" Marie asks, as if the idea of disobeying Regina is unfathomable. "Is that why you got arrested? Because you disobeyed her?"

"I was arrested for trespassing on her land."

"You trespassed on the queen's land?" Marie sounds shocked again. "You really _are_ insane."

Emma frowns, and looks to her right, where she imagines Marie to be sitting on the other side of the wall. "Well, what did _you_ get arrested for?"

"Aiding and abetting." Marie says, as if she's reciting something that she's heard a million times before, but doesn't quite agree with. "Though I didn't aid or abet anything."

"What do you mean?"

Emma hears a heavy sigh. "My mother owns - _owned_ \- an inn just outside our village. I helped her run the place, usually just cleaning rooms and serving food. One day, this woman comes in and asks for a room, but she's a little short on money. There was a storm outside, and this woman was freezing and looked like she was starving. Mama let her stay in the basement for a few days, until the storm passed and the roads were dry again. I took her leftover food whenever I could. Y'know, I just felt like I was doing a good deed. After three days, the woman was well-fed again and the weather was better, so she left. The next day, the queen's guards came storming into our inn, completely destroyed the place, saying that they were looking for someone. They had a picture of the girl that we had helped, so mama said that she _had_ been here, but she'd left. A second later, the guards shackled us and brought us here. I've never left the castle since."

"I don't get it." Emma says with a frown. "Who was the woman? Why were the guards looking for her? Why did you get arrested for helping her?"

"The woman's name was Snow White." Marie says, causing Emma's heart to stop. "The queen has this big vendetta against her. You've probably heard of her. Everyone else has. Apparently there's 'wanted' posters for her everywhere, but I spent most of my time working in the inn, so I'd never heard of her."

Emma swallows and stares at the wall as if she can actually see through it. "I- if you're down here, then what happened to your mother?"

Mirthless laughter sounds from Marie's cell, and Emma already dreads the answer. "She was executed right away. Apparently, aiding Snow White is an inexcusable crime, even if you don't know you're doing it. Seeing as I was only seventeen at the time, the queen decided to spare me my life, and instead sentenced me to twenty years in this dungeon. I don't know which is worse: death, or the next twenty years in this place."

Emma clenches her fists tightly, willing herself not to get too angry. The Evil Queen killed a woman and locked up her daughter for helping Snow White, even though they didn't know they were doing it. How is that acceptable? How can that woman live with herself?

Mary Margaret would die with guilt if she knew that she had been somewhat responsible for this. Mary Margaret would never purposely harm anyone, but if she hadn't told Cora about Daniel then the Evil Queen wouldn't be like this. She wouldn't want Snow's head on a platter and Marie's mother would still be alive, and Marie wouldn't be in the dungeon. They would be happily running their inn together. These were just two lives that Emma knew the Evil Queen had destroyed, but there were hundreds more.

Regina has come so far since her Evil Queen days, and Emma sees that now more than ever. Regina would never dream of doing anything like this.

But the thought that the Evil Queen, who obviously _would_ do something like this, was currently in the same building as Emma made her feel physically sick.

"Emma? You still there?" Marie asks, bringing Emma back to reality.

"Y- Yeah, I'm here."

"Good. I worried that you'd passed out for a second. You haven't eaten in so long that it wouldn't surprise me if you did."

"Yeah." Emma agrees absently. It's been twenty four hours since her breakfast with the queen, which means that she should be being taken to Regina soon, to tell her if she wants to live or die.

"Do you know how long you'll be down here?"

"No."

"You haven't been sentenced yet?"

"No."

"Huh."

"I have a choice." Emma decides to explain. "Regina said that I can either agree to submit to her and live, or refuse and be killed."

"She gave you the choice between life and death? Wow. Lucky."

"How am I lucky?" Emma asks incredulously. "I can either live my life under her thumb, or be killed. Neither or those sound like good options to me."

"I agree that they're not particularly desirable," Marie admits. "But people usually don't get a choice of what punishment they're given. They usually just get given one. Death is the queen's preferred choice." Marie is quiet for a moment, but Emma can hear her moving around. "My mother didn't get a choice." Marie says quietly, and Emma feels her heart break for the girl.

"You're right. I'm so sorry."

Emma waits for a reply, but it doesn't come right away, so she lies down and stares up at the ceiling. She can feel dirt all over her from the floor, but can't actually see just how grubby she is. She really wants a shower though.

"How long have you known the queen?" Marie asks curiously.

Emma opens her mouth, about to say 'years', but then she realises that it's Regina who she's known years. She hasn't known the Evil Queen long at all. "A couple days. Why?"

"You called her Regina." Marie says. "No one calls her Regina."

Emma finds herself shrugging, even though Marie can't see her. Should she be concerned? Has she just given away the fact that she doesn't belong here? That she's not just a normal prisoner? So what if she has? The future is fucked as it is.

"I'm not from around here." Emma says, telling the truth but not the whole truth. "She's not my queen, so I'll call her what I like."

"Alright. Sheesh." Marie says. "So, what are you going to choose? Life of death?"

Emma thinks about it, though there isn't much to think about. Although death would be better than staying indefinitely in this dungeon, she's not going to let the Evil Queen kill her. As Henry always says, good always wins, which means she has to survive this ordeal.

Which brings her onto her next reason that she has to live: Henry. She has to find a way to get back to the present day, so that she can be there for Henry. She's his mother and he needs her, and she needs to see him grow up. If she gets killed in the past, will he just blink out of existence? She's his mother; without her there's no him. No, wait, she hasn't been born yet here. If she gets killed, then Mary Margaret and David would still give birth to her, and she'll still exist, so Henry will still exist, but she'll just blink out of existence in the present-day.

That can't happen. She has a son to watch grow up, a brother to be an awesome big sister to, parents to watch grow old, a boyfriend to be there for, Regina... She just has to go back to Regina.

"I'm going to choose to live." Emma says confidently, without a shadow of a doubt in her mind.

"Even if it means being subservient to the queen? Because, I have to tell you, you don't seem like the submissive type."

The thought of submitting to the Evil Queen makes Emma see red, but if she doesn't, then she might end up being killed, which can't happen. She _needs_ to get back to Storybrooke, which she can only do if she stays on the queen's good side. So, that's what she'll do, and whilst she's playing along with the queen's games, she can think of a solid escape plan and get out of here.

"I'll do whatever it takes." Emma assures Marie.

She's going to get out of this dungeon, and she's going to get back to the present, and she's going to sort out this mess. She's not going to let the Evil Queen control her, because she's Emma fucking Swan. Emma Swan doesn't bow down to anybody, not even the Evil Queen.

Good always wins, which means she will beat this evil bitch. Unfortunately, she can't do any harm to the Evil Queen, because she would also be harming Regina, which she can't, nor would she want, to do. But just because she can't hurt the woman, she's still going to get out of this and she's going to do it soon, even if that means playing along with Regina's silly games.

It doesn't mean she's being controlled, it's just the strategy she's taking. She can play the queen at her own game, and she'll win. Because that's what Emma fucking Swan does.

So, sure, for now she'll do whatever the queen says. She'll obey. She'll act like the queen controls her. But it won't be genuine. She won't really be under Regina's thumb. She'll just be doing what it takes to get out of here, which she _will_ do, so that she can go back to the present.

With her new found motivation, Emma is ready to face the Evil Queen and, as if on cue, she hears the banging of a guard making his way toward her cell. A moment later, she can see the guard, and he pulls out a key for the door.

"The queen is ready to see you now." The guard says.

"I'm ready."

* * *

 **A/N: This was a filler-chapter, but don't worry, Regina will be in the next one. However, I do have an important question: would you want to read anything from Regina's point of view?**

 **I'm having a tough time trying to decide whether or not I should write parts of the story from the Evil Queen's viewpoint. Part of me thinks that it's better to keep her mysterious, but part of me thinks it would be good to see how she feels about Emma. Seeing as I can't decide, I'm asking you for your opinion. Please leave me a review or DM me your opinion, I'd really appreciate it :)**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has left me a review, and thank you to everyone who gave me their opinion on whether or not I should include Regina's POV. I read everyone's opinion and took them into consideration, and I've finally made a decision. I've decided that, for now, I'm going to keep the Evil Queen mysterious. _For now_. That may change in later chapters. **

**Anyway, here's the next part of this fic. :)**

* * *

Emma expects to be taken to the queen's bedchambers again for some reason, but instead, she's taken to an office.

It's not like Regina's mayoral office in Storybrooke, or her study in her mansion, but Emma assumes that it plays the same role.

The guard opens the door to the 'office' and pushes Emma inside, following close behind her as though Emma is too dangerous to be left in a room with the queen alone. Although Emma wishes to point out the absurdity of that thought, especially because she's shackled, she instead glances around the room with interest.

There are cabinets lining the walls. Lots of cabinets. Some of them have wooden doors, so Emma can't see inside, but a couple are made of glass, so Emma can see that they contain scrolls and other sheets of paper, all neatly organised, just like Regina's office in Storybrooke. There are also shelves, which have objects sitting on them that look just like ornaments to Emma, but she suspects they have some magical value. Just like the items in Gold's shop.

Directly across from where Emma stands, there's a set of double doors that lead to a balcony. Emma can't see much from where she's standing, but she can see a path leading away from the castle and towards the forest. This room must be at the front of the castle then, Emma concludes.

On the left hand side of the room, there's a table, or desk, which Regina is sitting behind. She's looking down at a piece of paper, and doesn't look up when Emma enters. Emma looks around the room awkwardly as she waits to be noticed, wondering what is on the piece of paper that has Regina's rapt attention. The guard who brought her here holds onto her arm at the elbow, and she wants to yell at him to let her go, but she's supposed to be being a good little girl so she doesn't say anything.

After a couple of minutes of looking around the room, Emma gets bored of waiting. There's only so much to look at, and she's always been impatient. Letting out a loud, dramatic sigh, she turns to look at the Queen.

Regina is dressed in her usual Evil Queen attire, and Emma finds herself wondering how long it takes her to get ready. It must take a while to put on those extravagant dresses, and even longer to do her hair in those elaborate hairstyles, which are always perfect, with not a hair out of place. And then there's the makeup. Emma wouldn't have the patience to do that everyday. Putting mascara on in the mornings is something that she does grudgingly, never mind all of the makeup that the Evil Queen wears.

Although, the Evil Queen could just magic herself ready in the mornings. It would be a real time-saver, and would give her an extra hour or two to... do whatever evil queens do.

What do evil queens do? Other than evil things, of course. What's Regina doing now? Emma straightens up a little, trying to see what is written on the piece of paper that Regina still hasn't looked up from. Although she can see the black scrawl of ink on the page, she can't make out what the words say from her distance, so she looks at Regina's face instead.

She's clearly concentrating on whatever she's reading. She has that cute little crease in her brow that she gets whenever she's focused on something. Although Emma has never seen it on the Evil Queen before, she's seen it on Regina many times, and seeing it now makes her feel more comfortable... more at home.

Emma is pulled out of her thoughts when Regina finally picks up a quill, signs the bottom of the piece of paper she's been poring over, and looks up. She looks at Emma, looks her up and down with a smirk, then looks to the guard.

"Leave us."

The guard nods and takes his leave. While he's departing, Emma looks down at her body, wondering why Regina had smirked at her. It's only when she looks down at her herself that she sees her riding pants and shirt, which were grey and white yesterday, are now mostly black and grimy.

Disgusting.

"Nice night in the dungeon?" Regina asks, standing and walking around her desk, then leaning against the back of it.

"Lovely." Emma says sarcastically.

"Yes, well, when I said that I'd been rather hospitable to you, you didn't seem to take me seriously. I thought I'd teach you a lesson."

"Lesson learned." Apparently that was the right thing to say, because Regina actually smiles. It doesn't reach her eyes, but then again, Emma hasn't seen a single smile reach the Evil Queen's eyes in all the time she's been here.

"But did it give you a lot of time to think about what your fate will be?" Regina asks.

Emma shrugs, making her shackles clatter against each other. "There were a lot of distractions."

Regina raises an eyebrow, surprised. "Such as?"

"Your dungeon has a leak." Emma begins. "There was this dripping sound the whole time I was down there, it was driving me insane. Then there was this guy, Donny, who was in the cell across from me. I think he thought he was on Broadway or something because he wouldn't stop singing, and-"

"I'm sorry," Regina holds up a hand, interrupting Emma. "Broadway?"

Emma realises that the Evil Queen will have never heard of Broadway and shakes her head. "It's from my land. Broadway, it basically does a lot of musicals. Y'know, there are plays and people sing." Regina is looking at Emma like she's crazy, so the blonde decides to move swiftly on. "Anyway, there was also this girl, Marie, who kept on talking to me. And my stomach kept on rumbling because I was hungry - I still am, by the way - but it was still distracting."

Regina looks slightly amused. "Sounds like you had an eventful night."

Emma just lifts a shoulder. "There wasn't much to do down there."

"Yes, I'm afraid the dungeon is dreadfully dull." Regina acknowledges. "But then again, they aren't designed to entertain."

"Yeah..." Emma nods, not knowing what else to do.

"Regardless of how unpleasant your night was, I trust that you've reached a decision?" Regina says, standing up straight, as though they're finally getting down to business.

"I have."

"So, what will it be? Are you to be executed, or are you willing to obey my every command?" There's a glint in Regina's eye as she speaks, which is wicked and mocking, and drives Emma mad.

Even though Emma had known before arriving that she would have to agree to submit to the queen, the words still taste bitter in her mouth. "I'm willing to obey."

"You are?" Regina asks, surprise on her face, and Emma can't tell if it's sarcastic or genuine. "Isn't that wonderful?"

Emma scowls, feeling anger brewing inside her at Regina's smugness.

"I know that must have been hard for you to say, dear." Regina continues, walking towards Emma. "You're such an assertive person that submitting to another must be difficult for you." Regina smirks as she speaks. "Not to worry though. Everyone submits to me eventually. It's usually the wise ones who do so early on."

Regina stops walking, inches away from Emma. The blonde is painfully aware that, if she lashes out, she could probably cause some harm to the brunette while she is in such close proximity. The only thing that stops her is the knowledge that she would probably be incinerated on the spot if she did.

Regina's eyes drop down to Emma's body, then she wrinkles her nose. "You're disgusting."

Emma looks down at her grimy clothes, feeling annoyed because the only reason she _is_ disgusting is because Regina made her spend a night in the dungeon.

"Guard!" Regina shouts, stepping away from Emma. Emma frowns, not knowing what's happening, then a guard opens the door and awaits orders. "Fetch Mrs. Potts."

The guard nods obediently and retreats from the room, so Emma turns back to the queen.

"You are going to bathe." Regina instructs. "Mrs. Potts, my housekeeper, will see that you do, and bring you some clean clothes when you're done. Once you are clean, a guard will bring you back to me and I will find a use for you."

Emma doesn't know what the queen means when she says 'find a use for you', but a memory from when they had breakfast together flashes into her mind. She remembers Regina's suggestive words and the way that her eyes had lingered on Emma's body for a moment too long. Then, it had been clear that she was implying Emma entertain her sexually. Is that still what she has in store?

Emma isn't certain, but the thought makes her mouth go dry and her heart race. Regina, for her part, doesn't seem to notice Emma's discomfort. Instead, she walks back over to her desk and sits down.

Moments later, the door behind Emma opens and a frumpy woman walks in, escorted by a guard. The woman - Mrs Potts - is small and plump, with hair that is greying and wrinkles appearing on her face. She is wearing a long dress and a white apron which, unlike Emma's clothes, are both perfectly clean.

"Mrs. Potts." Regina greets. "This is Ms. Swan, my new guest." Emma senses Mrs Potts' gaze on her, but doesn't look at the woman. "Would you draw her a bath and make sure she's clean? Also, get her some fresh clothes. When she returns to me, I want her practically sparkling."

"Yes, your majesty." Mrs. Potts nods obediently and turns to leave the room.

The guard grabs Emma's arm, about to escort her away as well. However, Regina's voice calls out Emma's name before they can leave. When the blonde turns around, the queen just smirks and says, "See you soon, dear."

Emma frowns, but is dragged out of the room before she can dwell on it.

* * *

Emma was thankful to find that Mrs. Potts is a lovely woman.

After being taken to the servants' washroom, Mrs. Potts had instructed the guard to wait outside, not letting him see Emma's naked body. However, before he left, the older woman had told him to remove Emma's shackles, saying that she knew the blonde wouldn't hurt her. Relieved and extremely grateful, Emma had thanked Mrs. Potts sincerely, making the other woman know how grateful she was.

Then, Mrs. Potts had drawn a bath for her, while Emma sat on an old stool and waited. While she was busy, Mrs. Potts had explained that she had been around a lot of criminals in her life, and she could tell that Emma wasn't one of them. "I can tell a good soul when I see one." She had said, bringing a smile to Emma's face. "You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, sweetie. Am I right?" Emma nodded emphatically.

Once the bath was ready and at a temperature where Emma wouldn't scold herself, Mrs. Potts helped Emma out of her dirty clothes, then left her to bathe herself while she went to find some clean ones.

She returned twenty minutes later, with clothes identical to the ones Regina had magicked for her the day before, and a couple of slices of bread. After quickly putting on her clothes, Emma had wolfed the bread down in record speed, not bothered that she was probably going to make herself sick. After that, Mrs. Potts had sat Emma down on the stool and plaited her hair, complimenting how long and soft it was while she did.

By the time Emma left the room, she felt rejuvenated again. She didn't even scowl when the guard put her shackles on, and willingly allowed herself to be led through the castle. It's only now, when they turned onto a new corridor and Emma can see the doors to Regina's bedchambers, that she starts to feel apprehensive again.

What's going to happen? Is the Evil Queen going to use her to fulfil her sexual needs? Because that's... Emma can't...

Emma's feet slow down of their own accord, meaning that the guard starts to pull her along until they're directly outside the double doors. He knocks loudly, then they wait.

Emma hears shuffling from the room, then a hushed voice. Clearly, Regina isn't alone. Emma strains to hear what is being said, but she can't make it out. It sounds like... arguing?

Finally, a voice is raised, and Emma hears Regina say: "It will take me two minutes."

"Can't it wait?" A man says. "Just leave it for now."

"Don't tell me what to do."

Emma frowns and looks at the guard, who is looking straight ahead as though he can't hear a thing. Perhaps he's just well-trained enough to know to ignore it.

After a bang, more shuffling, more hushed voices, and a defeated sigh, the door is pulled open just wide enough for the Evil Queen to slip out. Curiosity getting the better of her, Emma peaks through the gap just before the door can close, and she sees the back of a shirtless man in there.

Emma frowns and turns back to Regina, instantly noticing her dishevelled appearance and smudged lipstick.

Was she just...

"Ms. Swan." Regina acknowledges. "Good. You look much better now." Regina turns to the guard, without really paying much notice to Emma. "Take her to the dining hall. The servants are cleaning the floor down there. Get her a sponge and she can help."

"Wait, what?" Emma asks with a frown. When Regina said that she was going to find a use for her, she hadn't expected it to be domestic labour.

"I expect to be able to see my face in it by the time you're done." Regina says to her. "So make sure you do a good job, or there _will_ be consequences."

"You just made me take a bath so that I can get dirty again by cleaning a floor?" Emma says incredulously. "But I thought..."

"You thought what, dear?"

"Are you sleeping with someone?"

Regina's eyes widen at the blunt question. "Ms. Swan!"

"You are, aren't you?" She says accusingly. "Then why the hell am I here?"

"Excuse me?"

"I thought you wanted me to 'obey' because you wanted to sleep with me, but it seems you've already got your whore."

Emma expects Regina to get annoyed at the tone she's using, but she actually appears to be quite satisfied. "My, my, is this jealousy I detect?"

"Hell no!" Emma says adamantly. This makes Regina's eyes darken. "I just want to know why you're keeping me around. You have servants, you have a fuck buddy, so why can't you just let me go?"

An open-palm connects with Emma's cheek, making her reel back in shock. "Need I remind you that you agreed to obey me? Need I remind you that you must respect me or I will not hesitate to end your life?"

"But why am I-"

"I don't need to answer to you, Ms. Swan." Regina says sternly. "You are going to go and clean the dining room floor, with the other servants, then you are going to spend your night in the dungeon. Tomorrow you will receive more orders from me because _I_ am in charge and _you_ don't get a say."

"The dungeon?" Emma repeats. She had thought that she'd be returning to the room she stayed in on her first night. "But I thought-"

"I don't care what you thought." Regina interrupts. "It doesn't matter to me. You're at my mercy now, understand?"

Emma clenches her jaw, completely confused about what is going on. Everything she thought she'd understood about the terms of her staying here had just been turned on their head. Regina doesn't want to sleep with her. She's a servant. She spends her nights in the dungeon. That isn't what she agreed to.

"By tomorrow," Regina continues. "I want to see a change in your attitude. You're not going to talk back to me, you're not going to be disrespectful. You will obey my every wish and you will do so with a smile on your face, or so help me, I will rip your throat out. Is that clear?"

Emma swallows, hating herself for saying what she is about to say, and hating Regina more for making her say it. "Crystal."

The Evil Queen smiles insincerely, the turns to the guard. "Take her away."

Without further ado, Emma is dragged away, and she hears the door to Regina's bedchambers open and close behind her.

* * *

"We've made no progress." Snow says, her voice wavering nervously. "Emma was taken from us two days ago and we've made no progress into getting her back."

"It's not exactly an easy task." Killian reminds the woman, leaning casually against a tree. "We're stuck in a time where our past selves are running around, and you're a wanted woman. Wanted by the woman who currently has your daughter. We can't exactly stroll through the nearest village in case we're recognised, and you can't exactly stroll into the Evil Queen's castle because you'll be executed."

"But we can't just sit here forever." Snow says, indicating to the little camp they had set up.

In two days, the trio had only moved approximately two miles through the overgrown forest. They are two miles away from the Evil Queen's castle, and half a day's trek from Rumple's castle. Seeing as they are unable to walk along the paths or through villages lest they be recognised, travelling is difficult. They also haven't got a well-formulated plan for how they are going to save Emma and get back to the present yet.

"You're both right." David says. He is sitting on a tree trunk, sharpening the end of a stick. "We can't stay here forever, but we also can't just go parading through the Enchanted Forest. We're in a very dangerous position here."

"So, what do you suggest we do?" Mary Margaret asks. "Emma was taken by the _Evil Queen_ , David. She could be dead by now and all we're doing to save her is commenting on how hard it is to do so."

"Well, what do _you_ suggest we do, love?" Killian asks. "Barge in there demanding we get her back? We'll be signing our death certificates if we do that."

"And we still need to get the pocket watch." David reminds the pair. "Even if we saved Emma, it wouldn't be much good if we have no way of getting back to Storybrooke."

"But even if we saved Emma _and_ went back to Storybrooke, the timeline may have been altered." Killian ponders. "If Regina has seen Emma, then that will have changed how things played out when Emma arrives from Boston. Regina would recognise her."

"If Regina _kills_ Emma then the timeline will be altered even more." Mary Margaret informs.

"Not necessarily." Killian shrugs. "She hasn't been born yet in this time. If the Evil Queen kills her now, then that won't change the fact that you give birth to her before the curse is cast. Emma will still go to the other world, will still give birth to Henry, will still go to Storybrooke. Nothing will change."

"But she'd be _dead_." David says. "In our time, she'd just blink out of existence. Is that what you want?"

"Of course not." Killian scoffs.

"Well then act like it." David says sternly. "Is there any particular reason that you don't seem nervous about her well-being? You're acting like Emma has been kidnapped by munchkins, not like she's been taken by the _Evil Queen,_ who we all know is capable of things much worse than murder. In this time, Regina wouldn't even bat an eyelid over killing Emma."

Killian sighs. "I know Swan. She's a survivor. She'll be fine."

"Unless she's not." David says with disapproval at Killian's casual behaviour. "We need to come up with a plan to save her, a plan to get back to Storybrooke, and a plan to make the Evil Queen forget Emma."

Mary Margaret suddenly jumps up, as though a light bulb has just turned on behind her eyes. "We need to go to Rumpelstiltskin." She says decisively, already moving to pick up the few belongings they have. "Chances are, Rumple has the magical pocket-watch, so he has the means to get us back to Storybrooke. But he can also make a forgetting potion. If we get one of those, then we can give it to the queen and she won't remember Emma, so the timeline won't be changed."

"Brilliant!" David says, also jumping up. "Now we have a starting point. We'll go to Rumple's castle, then work from there." David puts on his jacket and picks up the 'spear' that he has just made. As they are getting ready to leave, he says thoughtfully, "If Henry were here, he'd have named this operation something like..."

"Operation Swan." Killian supplies with a smile.

"That'll work."

* * *

 **A/N: I didn't realise how long it had been since I updated. Oops. Sorry! I promise it won't happen again!**

 **I don't really like this chapter if I'm being honest, but I thought that it was necessary to move the story along. On the bright side, I think things get more interesting from here.**

 **Every few chapters, I'm going to write a little section on Snow, David and Killian so that you know how they're getting on. As long as that's OK with you guys.**

 **Finally, I want to thank everyone who has stuck with this story. It's been harder to write than I thought because Emma and Regina are both strong women, so it's hard to do them both justice without making the Evil Queen murder Emma. So, if you're still here, thank you! I hope I don't disappoint :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'd like to start by apologising for the long delay between chapters. I'm not going to bore you all with excuses, but I will give you a quick trigger warning for this chapter. There will be violence and mentions of child abuse... quite a heavy chapter to end my absence. Oops.**

* * *

After spending the rest of the day scrubbing the floor of the dining hall, Emma is exhausted and dirty and drained and _angry_ and wants nothing more than to go back home to Storybrooke. Unfortunately, she's taken back to her cell in the dungeon, and left with a bowl of food for her dinner.

As the doors clang shut behind her, Emma looks down at the bowl that has just been pushed into her hands. In it is a grey, sloppy substance that lies somewhere between a liquid and a solid, and has got to be the least appetising thing in the world.

"What the hell is this?" Emma says with disgust to the guard who is locking the door to her cell.

"Gruel."

" _Gruel?_!" Emma repeats. "That's actually a thing?"

She doesn't get a reply. The guard just looks at her, tilts his head slightly (Emma can't see his face, but she assumes that he's looking at her like she's crazy), then he walks away, whistling a jovial tune that is a complete juxtaposition to the dungeon that surrounds them.

Left alone, Emma tentatively picks up the spoon, which is coated in the... _gruel_. She warily sniffs it, but it seems to be scentless, or maybe the damp smell of the dungeon is just too overpowering. Next, she sticks her tongue out, licking the tiniest bit off the spoon, and immediately regretting it. She can only describe the taste of the sludge as 'stale', and she feels rage build within her that she's actually expected to eat it.

Emma has had all day for her anger at the Evil Queen to brew and grow. Anger at being caught by her guards in the first place, anger at being locked up, anger at having to agree to obey her, anger at being turned into a common member of her staff, anger at having to scrub a dirty floor while that _witch_ had sex on a higher floor of the castle. This bowl of gruel that she has been served is just the straw that breaks the camel's back.

Feeling herself reach boiling point, Emma turns around and launches the bowl at the door to her cell. It hits the metal bars, sending the grey sludge flying and splattering to the floor and walls. The thick wooden bowl is unscathed by the impact, but clatters to the floor, causing an echo.

Emma's chest rises and falls heavily, the silence of the dungeon suddenly deafening after the shock of the loud bang her bowl had caused. She half expects a guard to come and chastise her, but nothing happens. After a few moments, she hears a voice.

"Jeez... You almost gave me a heart attack." It's Marie from the cell next to Emma.

"They can't actually expect me to eat that _crap_. Who do they think I am? Oliver Twist?"

"Who?" Marie says, confusion evident.

Emma closes her eyes, having forgotten for a moment that the other woman wasn't from her world, and wouldn't know what she was talking about. "Never mind." Emma mumbles, rubbing her face tiredly. She's so sick of this whole thing. All she wants is to go home. All she wants is to see her parents and her son and her Regina, instead of this evil Regina from the Enchanted Forest.

"You get used to it," Marie says.

"What?"

"The gruel."

"I don't _want_ to get used to it." Emma states, backing up until she reaches the wall, then sitting down. "I just want to go home."

Emma's voice comes out quiet and small, like a child who is spending the night away from their parents for the first time and just wants to go back to them. Emma closes her eyes and hugs her knees to her chest, burying her face in them. She stays like that for at least a few minutes, filled with self-pity at the situation that she's in, and wondering what her parents and Killian are doing to save her.

"Did you tell the queen that you were going to submit to her?" Marie asks.

"Yes."

"And what did she say? Why were you gone all day?"

Emma lifts her head and stares at the floor. "She made me clean the floor of the dining hall."

"Why do you sound so annoyed about that? What did you _think_ she was going to make you do?"

"Honestly?" Emma asks, exhaustion turning her filter off and making her not care about what she's revealing. "I thought she was going to make me have sex with her. But no, she already has a fuck buddy. I'm just another slave."

"I'm confused," Marie says. "Anyone else would be thrilled at not having to sleep with the Evil Queen. Why do you sound so disappointed? You didn't _want_ to sleep with her, did you?" The last question was asked with a small laugh, as though it was preposterous and even slightly amusing.

"I-" Emma frowns and shakes her head. "Of course I didn't _want_ to." She says, though her mind is spinning.

If she doesn't want to sleep with the Evil Queen, then why _is_ she so annoyed? Obviously, the Evil Queen is an incredibly attractive woman. Storybrooke-Regina has always had the ability to take Emma's breath away, and Emma has had many a drunken fantasy of bedding the mayor. The Evil Queen is a spitting image of Regina, but darker and more alluring; and her cleavage has always had a way of grabbing Emma's attention and making her mouth go dry. Maybe a small part of Emma had looked forward to sleeping with a woman as attractive as the Evil Queen.

Not that she would ever admit that, because the Evil Queen was, well, _evil_. She was sick and twisted and did terrible things to good people. Emma's attraction to her started and ended with a physical attraction. Emma should never, and _would_ never, want to sleep with someone as dark and twisted as the Evil Queen.

"Good," Marie says with a laugh. "I was worried for a second there. I mean, obviously, the queen is hot as hell, everyone thinks so, but... no one could be attracted to someone that evil. No one could be attracted to a mass murderer. It's just... weird."

"Exactly." Emma agrees with a nod.

But then her mind wanders to Regina, present-day Regina, who is still technically a mass murderer. She may not be that person anymore, but she has still killed a lot of innocent people in her past, and she is still worthy of love. Surely there's still a part of the Regina that Emma knows in the Evil Queen, and does Emma really want her being miserable and unhappy?

Emma shakes her head, not wanting to think about that. It's so much easier to think of the Evil Queen and Regina as two separate people. Blurring the lines just makes it too confusing and makes Emma feel guilty about the life of the Evil Queen.

Emma is still angry at the Evil Queen, but as her energy seeps away from her, she also loses the energy to be annoyed. She closes her eyes and leans back against the wall. She feels as though she's too tired to survive another day in the Enchanted Forest, and the thought that she would wake here tomorrow makes her want to cry. The only thing that keeps her going is the thought that, hopefully, her family will be working to save her, and she won't have to stay here much longer.

* * *

As soon as Emma wakes the next morning, a guard opens the door to her cell, claiming that the Queen wishes to see her immediately. She is shackled and taken upstairs, to Mrs Potts. The friendly woman bathes her again, gives her some clean clothes, braids her hair (she's in a rush, so at times she pulls on it so hard that Emma is worried she'll pull chunks of it out), and even sneaks her a slice of toast for breakfast, then sends her away with a guard.

The guard hurries Emma down a corridor in an area of the castle that she has never been before, then takes her into a large room, which is empty with the exception of two chains hanging from the ceiling. Emma frowns and turns to the guard, about to ask what is going on and why she's been brought here. However, before she can get the question out, or even comprehend what's happening, the guard pulls Emma to the centre of the room, where the chains are, and connects one to each wrist.

Emma opens her mouth in shock and looks up at her wrists. Her arms are spread wide so that her body forms a Y shape, and she already feels vulnerable.

"What the hell?" She says, glaring at the guard, though he doesn't reply. Another voice does, though.

"Good morning." A female voice says. "I trust that you had another pleasant night in my dungeon?"

The voice, coming from someone who certainly hadn't been in the room when Emma entered, startles the blonde and makes her spin around awkwardly. The movement is clumsy because the chains restrict her from turning fully, so she ends up stumbling slightly, not that it matters. The chains would have prevented her from falling, anyway.

Eventually, Emma manages to turn enough to see the Evil Queen, leaning against the wall in the corner of the room. She must have poofed herself in here.

Emma is too stunned to respond to the question (chances are that it's rhetorical anyway), but her silence spurs the queen on. "I suppose you're quite lucky, though. You don't spend half as much time in your cell as the other prisoners do." Regina smiles darkly, as though a thought has just occurred to her, then laughs slightly. "On second thought, let's see how lucky you feel when you leave this room."

The ominous phrase makes Emma swallow loudly, her heart rate beginning to speed up. What, exactly, is going to happen in this room? The fact that her hands are chained already gives her a bad feeling and she finds herself getting more and more nervous by the second.

Regina turns to the guard, who is still standing by the door. "Leave us." She instructs, with a dismissive wave of her hand. As the man leaves, Regina walks around to the front of Emma, sticking to the wall of the room instead of coming closer.

"You know," Regina says thoughtfully, standing directly across from Emma. "I want to kill you."

Emma's eyes widen at the blunt statement, though Regina doesn't seem to notice.

"You're annoying and outspoken and you lack basic manners, which infuriates me. You have no idea how to treat a queen with respect, and even if you did, I'm not sure that you would. You have trespassed on my land, then acted like a victim. You speak back to me, then act as though you're being treated unjustly when you get punished. You've been here for three days, but yet," Regina raises her hands so that she's indicating towards Emma. "Here you are. You haven't learned to be any better behaved, despite agreeing to obey my orders.

Emma doesn't know what the purpose of being listed all her faults is, but she finds it rather awkward. "If you want to kill me, then why don't you just do it?" Emma asks. She doesn't want to encourage Regina, but she does want to know the answer to her question. What is stopping the woman with no morals from killing her?

"That's a good question." Regina acknowledges. She begins to walk towards Emma, slowly. "Though the only answer that I can think to give is," She stops, inches away from Emma, and lifts her hand to the blonde's cheek. "That it would be a shame to waste such a pretty face."

Emma jerks her head away from the other woman. Again, she's feeling as though the queen wishes to seduce her, which just makes it more confusing that she would be sleeping with another person and treating Emma like a maid.

"But this can't go on," Regina says, lowering her hand from where it had been hanging in thin air. Emma notices that she's clenched it into a fist, as though she's angry, and even her tone sounds frustrated, but she doesn't shout or lash out or slap Emma as she had yesterday. "You're too disobedient, which is something that I intend to change."

Regina backs away from Emma again, putting a couple of metres between them. "Are you familiar with the process of training animals?"

"Um..." Emma looks to the side, unsure of the relevance of the question, but she answers it anyway. "When I was a kid, I found a stray dog once and tried to teach it how to sit. But someone called the local dog shelter before I could make any progress, so..." Regina narrows her eyes questioningly, creating an awkward atmosphere for Emma. "No," Emma corrects. "I don't have any experience in training animals.

Regina spends another moment looking critically at Emma, then shakes her head and continues. "Animals are trained through a series of rewards and punishments. Any desirable behaviour that the animal displays gets rewarded, so the animal is encouraged to repeat it, whereas undesirable behaviour is punished, to discourage repetition. Do you understand?" Emma nods her confirmation. "Well," Regina smirks. "I'm going to apply a similar strategy to you."

"You're going to train me," Emma says, as though it's a fact, not a question. "Like an animal."

"Exactly," Regina confirms with a dark smile. It's clear that she's proud of her idea, which makes Emma dislike her even more, for finding pleasure in her degrading plan. "Every time you do something that I don't like, you'll be punished. Would you like to know what your punishment will be?"

"Yes," Emma says, which isn't completely true. She'd rather there not be any punishment at all, and therefore there be nothing to know. However, it didn't seem like that was an option, so she would rather know what exactly she had got herself into.

"'Yes' what?"

"Yes please?" Emma inflects, as though it's a question.

"Polite." Regina says with amusement. "But that's not what I meant. How do you address a queen?"

Emma clenches her jaw when she realises what Regina expects from her. "Yes, _your majesty_."

Emma can honestly say that she has never felt so demeaned in all her life as she has during her stay in the Enchanted Forrest. Acting subservient to Regina is almost painful for Emma to do. She hates to feel inferior to anyone, but hates it even more so when that person is Regina. It reminds her of when she'd just moved to Storybrooke, and Regina treated her like crap. Those memories make Emma angry all over again.

Regina waves her hand, causing a puff of purple smoke to appear. As it dissipates, Emma notices that the queen is now holding what appears to be a whip. Her eyes widen at the sight, then she realises that the sense of foreboding that she has had since entering the room has finally been proven justified.

"A strike with this should do the trick," Regina says, looking at the whip with admiration. As if to accentuate her point, she cracks the whip, causing a loud bang as it hits the floor. Emma winces at the noise alone, causing Regina to smirk.

"You're going to whip me?" Emma says, not really needing the clarification, but asking for it anyway.

"Indeed." Regina nods. "But only if you're bad. If you're good, you'll be rewarded."

"With what?"

"Well..." Regina smiles darkly again. "You won't be punished. Isn't that reward enough?"

Emma swallows. Usually, she would argue that this hardly seems like a fair deal, but the rather large whip in Regina's hand dissuades her from doing so.

"Yesterday, you were quite rude to me, weren't you, dear?" Regina says, toying with the handle of the whip. "You asked me about my sexual relations, which is no matter that you should discuss with a queen. You also acted like the very idea of being jealous because I was sleeping with someone was revolting, which was..." Regina looks down, and for a second, Emma swears that she sees genuine sadness on the brunette's face. But before she can see if she's right, the look is gone and replaced with one of indifference. "It was worthy of punishment." Regina finishes.

Emma closes her eyes as she realises where this is going.

She's going to get whipped. Right now.

Her trip back in time can't get much worse, it seems. Every time she thinks that she's reached rock bottom, something happens to prove that she's wrong. First, she'd been arrested in the first place and shoved into a room the size of a shoe box; then she'd been moved to the dungeon; then she'd had to agree to submit to the queen, then she'd been made to scrub floors. The latest instalment: she's going to get _whipped_ by the Evil Queen.

While Emma stands there, cursing her own bad luck that any of this is happening, she notices Regina making her way behind her and knows that she's going to get whipped at any moment. Why is she still surprised when crap like this happens? She should know by now that that the universe has some weird vendetta against her, a mission to make her life a living hell.

Emma turns so that she can watch Regina's movements warily. The brunette walks in a half-circle around her, until she is behind her, or would be if Emma hadn't spun 90 degrees. Then she stops, looking at the whip in her hand, somewhat fondly. Emma swallows, or tries to, but her mouth is dry with nerves.

"You can't actually whip me," Emma says, already knowing that the statement isn't true.

"Oh, I can, dear." Regina looks up at her with a smirk. "You should know by now that I can do whatever I please."

"What I mean is that you _shouldn't_ whip me." Emma corrects herself. "It's wrong. I'm a human being."

"Maybe," Regina acknowledges. "But this punishment is only a response to the way that you have acted since arriving here. If you hadn't been so disrespectful then we wouldn't be in this position."

"Two wrongs don't make a right.".

"Maybe in this case they do."

As Regina gets into position to give Emma a beating, the blonde closes her eyes and turns so that her back is to the brunette. She wishes that she were anywhere else but right here. She's well aware of the fact that a mere few days ago she was sitting in her house in Storybrooke, reading the local newspaper while drinking her morning coffee, waiting for her parents to call and say that they were ready to go to Gold's shop. The trip to Gold's shop that resulted in this.

"You don't need to do this," Emma says, knowing that it won't make any difference.

"I know that I don't _need_ to," Regina replies. "But I do _want_ to."

It's phrases like that that make Emma detest the Evil Queen. Who is sadistic enough to want to cause other people pain? Emma had a hard time believing that this woman is the mother of her child, her best friend, the mayor of the town that she lives in. In fact, if she didn't know without a shadow of a doubt that the Evil Queen was Regina, then she wouldn't believe it. They are just so different. It really brings into perspective how much Regina has changed and grown over the years.

While Emma silently marvels in Regina's character development, her thoughts are suddenly interrupted in the most brutal way possible. She hears it before she feels it: the sound of the whip hitting skin. An awful slap, a sound that makes her wince before she even feels the pain run down the skin on her back, like millions of needles digging into her all at once.

Emma moves forward as if she can move away from the pain, but only makes it a step before the chains stop her. Instead, she arches her back as far away from Regina as possible, taking deep breaths to help her push past the pain.

"That's one," Regina informs her as if she hadn't noticed.

"Of how many?" Emma asks.

Her reply is another strike with the whip, this one harder than the last, causing a searing pain to run parallel to her spine. But this time, it's not the pain that bothers her.

She doesn't know what causes it, whether it's the sound of the whip or the feeling of it, but she has a flashback. A flashback to a particularly horrible foster father who had a short-temper and a violent streak. For a moment, Emma is not standing in the Evil Queen's castle, but is cowering in the corner of a living room, trying to shield herself from the black belt that she knows is going to come any moment.

Emma opens her eyes quickly, trying to force the picture away. She doesn't want to recall that terrifying time in her life, a time that has scarred her emotionally for life.

"No..." Emma says quietly. She doesn't even know that she's saying it until it's passing her lips, her mouth seemingly moving of its own accord.

"What was that?" Regina says, her tone mocking.

"Please," Emma's voice is desperate. "No more."

There's a dark chuckle from behind her, then the whip hits her back once more. Even with her eyes open, she sees the angry face of her foster father, arm raised and belt at the ready. He's swaying slightly, most likely drunk. He always was, no matter what time of day it was.

This time, Emma squeezes her eyes shut to try and ward off the image. It works. All she can see is black. But then she belatedly feels the pain from the last blow, overlapping the tingling sensation from one of the earlier ones. Her breath hitches in her throat as she wants to scream but physically restrains herself.

"Please," She says instead. "Regina, _please_."

"I told you," _Whip_. "Not to," _Whip_. "Call me that." _Whip._

These ones are quick but just as painful. When Emma realises that she'd called the queen by her first name, she curses herself for bringing the attack onto herself. She should have known better than to do that, especially when Regina has a whip in her hand, but the pain and the flashbacks were clouding her mind and making it impossible to think straight.

"I'm sorry!" Emma says honestly. "But please stop, I promise I'll be good!"

Even though she's saying the words as an adult, in her mind, she hears them being uttered by a child. That's when she sees herself again, crawling away from the man, sobbing quietly while she repeatedly says, "I'll be good, I'll be good."

Wait. Is she sobbing in her flashback, or in real life? Emma opens her eyes and realises that her face is wet with tears. When had she started crying?

"See?" Regina says, and Emma is relieved to hear the end of the whip hit the floor. "It's working already. You're willing to be compliant and this is only our first session."

First session? Meaning there will be more?

The room is silent for a moment, except for Emma's heavy breathing. Her back is tingling and stinging, but she knows she'll be able to handle it. She doesn't even think to wonder what Regina is doing, she's just thankful that she isn't whipping her.

Eventually, a knock at the door interrupts the quiet, and Emma hears Regina sigh.

"Enter," Regina calls, walking around Emma so that she's standing next to her, but a few feet away.

The door opens, and a guard walks in. This one isn't wearing a helmet, and his armour is silver instead of black, and Emma knows immediately that he isn't just any guard. He is probably of a higher prestige than the others.

"This better be important," Regina snaps impatiently.

The guard nods his head, then looks across at Emma. She wonders what she must look like with her arms chained above her head, her face red from a mixture of crying and the whipping she's received. She probably looks a mess.

"It's about Snow White." The guard states, looking back at Regina as if nothing about Emma's current situation was out of the ordinary.

Emma's ears prick at the mention of her mother, her first thought being that Mary Margaret had been found while she was trying to rescue her. She knows that that would be disastrous. The Evil Queen would not hesitate to murder her nemesis, even if it was a version of her from the future. Emma starts to panic, suddenly filled with guilt, convinced that her mother was going to die and it was all her fault.

"I'm listening." Regina sounds intrigued and doesn't seem to notice when Emma swallows thickly.

"My men found her," The guard says, his words causing Emma's heart to drop. He can't be talking about Snow White from the past because Snow White was never captured by the queen, which must mean it's Mary Margaret. Mary Margaret has been found.

"You found her?" Regina perks up.

"We did." The guard looks down and swallows nervously. "But we lost her."

While Emma regains some hope that her mother will live after all, she notices Regina's back stiffen. "You what?" Regina asks through gritted teeth.

"She was hiding in the forest," The guard says. "My men found her cabin, and went inside, but it was empty. They were getting ready to leave, but then they saw her. She must have been returning from gathering water because she had a bucket in her hand. She tried to run from my men, and a chase broke out. We finally caught her, had her pinned to the ground, but then... the girl in the red cloak appeared. The wolf." The guard looks down, seemingly ashamed. "The girl transformed and ripped apart three of my men. We had to retreat or she would have killed us all."

While Emma is happy and relieved that Mary Margaret hadn't been caught, and it must have been Snow White from the past if she was with Red, Regina has the exact opposite reaction.

"You imbecile," Regina says through gritted teeth. "You had her, but you let her escape? _Alive_."

"The wolf-"

"I don't give a damn about the wolf!"

"We would have been killed!"

"I don't care!" Regina stalks forward, only stopping when she's inches away from the guard. "You have one job. To find Snow White and bring her to me, or if you can't get he to me alive, make sure she's dead. Why do you find that so difficult?"

"She has the wolf with her-"

"Would you shut up about the wolf?!" Regina sighs and shakes her head. "You are clearly incapable of carrying out this task, and I am _sick_ of you wasting my time. I need to find someone who isn't an incompetent fool, and who isn't a coward." Regina lowers her voice to do an unflattering impression " _We would have been killed_ ," She imitates. "Pathetic."

Without any warning, Regina thrusts her hand into the guard's chest, causing him to cry out in pain. Emma suddenly straightens up, alarmed at this new advancement. Regina's going to kill him.

"No!" Emma cries out, forgetting for a moment that she's chained and trying to run over to the queen. The chains obviously stop her, and she falls backwards, the chains holding her up.

Regina removes the heart from the man's chest and squeezes tightly. The man doubles over, clutching at the place where his heart had once been. A moment later, he drops to the ground like a dead weight, then lies motionless on the floor.

Emma's mouth hangs open in shock as she watches the Evil Queen drop the dust-like remains of his heart next to his body, then she wipes her hands clean.

"You killed him," Emma states in disbelief.

"He was useless." Regina shrugs casually as if she hasn't just killed a man.

"You _killed_ him," Emma repeats, louder this time, hoping to get through to whatever ounce of empathy or goodness that may still exist within the cold woman before her.

When all Emma gets is a blank stare, as though there is nothing wrong with murder and Regina can't see what the big deal is, Emma laughs mirthlessly. "How can you kill someone in cold blood and not even care?" She asks, then speaks again before Regina can reply. "You actually don't need to answer that. I'll do it for you. It's because you're a disgusting human being."

Seeing the Evil Queen kill another person, right before her eyes, makes Emma forget that she is talking to Regina as well as the Evil Queen. It makes her forget that her best friend, Henry's other mother, is also inside the body in front of her. Her filter gets turned off. Any desire to spare the queen's feelings is turned off. She no longer cares. She wants the Evil Queen to know exactly what she thinks of her.

"You're a horrible person, the _worst_ person. You think that just because you've been hurt before, you're allowed to hurt other people. The world has hurt you, so you hurt the world. Well, you know what? That's why you're alone. That's why nobody cares about you. As long as you hold onto your anger, as long as you hold on to your need to hurt others until you feel like you've gotten justice for whatever happened to you, nobody is going to love you. No one could possibly love someone as dark and twisted as you. You're a psychopath. A sick, twisted psychopath. Pure evil. And what do you gain from any of this? Everyone is scared of you, nobody likes you, you spend your days in this castle making other people miserable. What kind of life is that? At the end of the day, you're alone, with nothing and no one."

By the time Emma is done, she can feel her cheeks flushed with anger. She looks at the Evil Queen, wanting her to react so that she knows her words have hit home but also fearing her reaction because she knows it isn't going to end well for her. While she waits, she looks at Regina's face, trying to determine what she is thinking, but it is pretty much a closed book.

After what feels like years to Emma, the Evil Queen moves, walking purposefully behind the blonde. Emma frowns, about to turn around to see what the brunette is doing, but then she feels it.

She's whipped again and again and again and again.

By the time Regina is done, Emma's legs can barely hold her weight. Her body is coated in sweat, her chest rising and falling rapidly. She doesn't know whether or not her back is bleeding, but she would be surprised if it isn't. Luckily, the flashbacks have ended, but only because she was never beaten this badly as a child.

The room is spinning, but Emma is aware of Regina walking past her. The brunette wordlessly leaves the room, slamming the door behind her. A few moments later, a guard enters to take Emma back to the dungeon.

* * *

 **A/N: I know this was quite a heavy chapter to return to this story with, I hope it's not too bad, though. Please leave me a review to let me know if this was OK. And don't worry, I know that Emma and Regina seem to be getting further and further away from being a couple, but this is part of my plan.**

 **Happy New Year, everyone :)**


	8. Chapter 8

Emma wakes on her fifth day in the Enchanted Forest to the sound of Donny, in the cell across from her, singing his insufferable tune. She knows immediately that she isn't going to get any more sleep until he stops, which is only when _he_ falls asleep, so she rolls onto her back... and instantly regrets the movement.

Emma closes her eyes and hisses in pain, the skin on her back screaming at her to take her weight off it. For a moment, she had forgotten about the whipping from the day before. Rolling onto the damaged skin served as a painful reminder. She takes a moment to brace herself and then sits up, ignoring how much it hurts to do so.

She wonders whether or not she should regret the things that she had said to Regina, the things that had resulted in the most brutal beating of her life. She probably should, seeing how Regina had reacted. But she doesn't. Not really. She has wanted to say those things since she arrived in the Enchanted Forest; has wanted to let the Evil Queen know that, if she just let go of her anger, then she could be happy. Now that she's finally gotten it out of her system, she feels like a weight has been lifted.

Of course, she wishes that the queen hadn't whipped her until her skin was red and raw, but she is determined to have a glass-half-full mentality. Lord knows, it'll be the only thing that keeps her sane while she's here.

Emma wonders what new horror will be in store for her today. More whipping? Another form of torture? The optimistic side of herself hopes that she'll be given a day off, a day to recover from yesterday, but the realistic side of her tells her that, with how angry Regina was at Emma's words, that won't happen.

Emma pushes herself backwards, about to lean against the wall before she remembers that it's probably not a wise idea with her back. Instead, she sighs and slouches forward uncomfortably.

Luckily, she doesn't have to stay that way for long. A guard appears in front of her cell, the keys to the door in his hand.

"Up you get," He states, signalling for Emma to stand up. "You've got a busy day ahead."

"A busy day of what?" Emma asks as she stands up and approaches the door, watching as the guard turns the key in the lock.

"You'll see."

* * *

Emma is walked up the stairs until she's in the main part of the castle, then is taken through a series of corridors. After walking for a couple of minutes, she begins to recognise the rooms from when she'd just arrived at the castle, immediately after her arrest. It feels like a long time ago, and she has a hard time believing it's only been five days.

"Are you taking me to Regina?" Emma asks. Whenever Emma is taken to the Queen, they usually go straight upstairs instead of staying on the ground floor, so Emma doesn't know where she's going.

"No," The guard replies. "She's busy today."

Emma is slightly relieved, though doesn't know whether or not she will be when she finds out where she's going instead. Surely it can't be worse than yesterday's beating.

"Busy doing what?" Emma asks after a moment.

The guard looks down at the floor and Emma hears him sigh heavily. She frowns, finding his reaction to the question odd, but then she forgets all about that when the guard takes his helmet off. In all her time here, Emma hasn't seen a guard's face, other than the one from yesterday that Regina killed.

The guard is younger than Emma expects him to be, maybe in his early twenties. His hair is brown and curly, a little damp from sweat and, when he wipes his face, Emma thinks that that must be the reason that he removed the helmet: because it was too warm in there. He's an attractive man, there's no denying it, but he's about ten years too young for Emma.

There's a sad look on his face that makes Emma suddenly feel bad for him. She never thought she'd feel bad for one of the people who shackle her and drag her around the castle, usually to visit the Queen which rarely ends well. But she always imagined hard, cold faces to be hiding under the black helmets that the guards wear. This man looked too young, too innocent, too _normal_ to work for the Evil Queen.

"She needs to replace a member of her staff," The guard says quietly.

That's when it dawns on Emma that the member of staff is probably the guard from yesterday, who the Queen murdered, and that must be why the guard is so sad. The two guards might have been friends or, even if they weren't, they would have at least known each other. The murdered man could have been this guard's boss. Emma feels disgusted towards the Evil Queen all over again, for murdering an innocent man who must have been well-known in the castle.

"I'm sorry," Emma says quietly. "For what happened to that guard yesterday."

"Why are _you_ apologising?" The guard responds. "The Queen is the one who murdered him. Murdered him for doing the right thing and saving half of his men from that _damn_ wolf." The bitterness that the guard feels radiates from him, making Emma feel even worse for him.

"I know that it's not my fault, but I'm still sorry." Emma shrugs. "You shouldn't have to put up with any of this. You shouldn't have to put up with your boss killing one of your colleagues. It's not right."

"No, it's not," The guard agrees. "But this is what happens when you work for the Evil Queen." His tone of voice tells Emma how displeased he is with the fact.

"Then why do you work for her?"

"She pays me." He says simply. "She gives me food, shelter, a bed. I come from a family of peasants; any life I would lead without her would be one of poverty and misery. I might be miserable here, but at least I'm not malnourished or living in squalor."

"That's..." _really sad_ , Emma finishes to herself but doesn't voice it.

The guard probably doesn't want her pity, and what kind of position is she in to give it? She's a prisoner to the Evil Queen; she _is_ living in squalor. She's fed sporadically, as though she's only given meals when someone remembers her existence. Even when she _is_ fed, the meals are bland, small and usually taste like they've passed their expiration date. She doesn't even have a bed, just the stone floor of her cell.

The guard must have been thinking the same thing, as his next words are: "I'm sorry for you, too. Being a prisoner to the queen must be rough."

Emma shrugs again as if to say _'eh, it's nothing I can't handle_ ', though the sounds of her shackles rattling against each other make them both laugh.

"Can I ask you something?" The guard asks, halting his walking. Emma nods her head and also stops, turning to the man. "What's your name?"

The question surprises Emma, for some reason. "You don't know?"

"The queen refers to you as 'the prisoner', so unless that's your real name, no."

Emma frowns at that. "There are a lot of prisoners, how do you know that she's talking about me when she says 'the prisoner'?"

"Because you're _the_ prisoner," The guard says, as though it's obvious. "She doesn't care about any of the other people locked in her dungeon, but every day since you arrived, the queen has wanted you for something. You're _the_ prisoner; the one that the queen is interested in."

Emma considers this for a moment but ultimately accepts the answer. The only other question in her mind is _why,_ exactly, Regina has taken an interest in her, but she'll ask that another day, once she knows that this guard can be trusted.

"My name is Emma."

"Emma," The guard repeats. "Suits you."

"What about you? What's your name?"

"Lucas."

"Lucas. Suits you," Emma imitates, earning a smile from the curly-haired brunette.

Lucas starts walking again, indicating to Emma to follow him. "Just a warning," He says covertly. "The queen is in the room on the first right." After that, he puts his helmet back on, probably to appear professional.

Emma nods her head and keeps walking, not saying a word just in case Lucas is right and Regina is nearby. As she passes the room, she glances inside and sees that it is the room that she had been taken to on her first day in the castle; the room where she first met the Evil Queen. Emma can only think to call it the throne room.

Regina is perched on the throne, a guard on either side of her. In front of her, three men are standing, one of them a step or two closer to her than the others. Whoever he is, Regina doesn't seem happy with him.

"You don't have any experience?" She asks incredulously, her voice raised. "Then why are you wasting my time? Get the hell out of here!"

Regina creates a fireball in her hand, then hurls it towards the floor so that it lands just in front of the man's feet. Emma knows that it's more of a warning than it is an actual attack. If the queen wanted to harm the man, then she would have harmed him. Still, the man gets a fright and frantically stumbles backwards, seemingly unable to get away fast enough. Even Emma doesn't hang around. She walks quickly until she's out of sight, then turns back to Lucas with a look of relief on her face. If Regina had seen her, there probably would have been a fireball with her name on it.

"She's been like that since yesterday," Lucas informs her. "In a seriously bad mood. Everyone is trying to steer clear of her."

"I don't blame them," Emma mumbles with a shake of her head, thinking about how unacceptable it is that the Evil Queen finds it acceptable to treat people like that. She falls back into step next to Lucas, pondering his last words. "Wait, you said she's been like that since yesterday?"

"Yep." Lucas nods his head. "The servants are saying it's because she feels guilty about killing Jerome - that was the guard's name - but, come on, that woman has no remorse."

Emma agrees that the Evil Queen won't feel guilty about killing the guard. That woman has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people, killing one guard isn't going to change her whole outlook on life, or make her reevaluate her morals. But Emma can't help but wonder if what _she_ said about Regina yesterday has caused her bad mood. She called her a psychopath and pure evil. If someone said those things about Emma, then she would be hurt by them. But would Regina really let Emma's words get to her so much? Probably not. Why would the Evil Queen give a damn about her opinion?

"We're here," Lucas interrupts Emma's thoughts as he stops outside a door and grabs the handle, then turns to Emma. "Are you ready?"

He almost sounds excited to see Emma's reaction to whatever he's about to show her, making her wonder what it is. She gets her hopes up that maybe it's something nice and she's going to have a pleasant day, after all. Either that or it's something horrible and Lucas is just as sadistic as Regina.

She nods her head, showing that she's ready to see what's behind the door. Lucas turns the handle and pushes the door open, turning to see Emma's reaction. As soon as Emma's eyes land on what's in front of her, a wide smile spreads across her face.

She had thought that the door led to another room, but no, the door leads out to the open air. Emma can see a couple of hundred metres of grass stretching from the doorway and, beyond that, a forest as far as the eye can see.

To the right are the castle gardens, with roses and other flowers growing. The roses are black, probably a result of Regina's magic, but are still beautiful and picturesque. To the left, various different crops are growing in the soil, covering a vast area. There a people milling around, doing various jobs - people picking weeds from the rose bed, people harvesting vegetables, a person passing by with a wheelbarrow full of manure. Emma didn't think it was possible to feel so much joy at seeing people doing such mundane tasks.

Emma looks at Lucas as though she's asking for permission to step outside. When he lifts his arm, inviting her out into the open air, Emma grins and steps over the threshold. Immediately, the fresh air hits her face, the sunlight shines onto her skin, the soft breeze blows across her body. Emma hasn't been outside since the day that she was arrested and, while she'd never particularly cared for the outdoors in the past, now it's like being in heaven.

 _Huh. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder._

"I had a feeling that you'd be happy to be outside," Lucas comments as he joins Emma. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"It feels like it's been a lot longer than it actually has," Emma admits.

"Well, the Queen told me that I had to make you do something useful," Lucas informs her. "But she didn't give me a specific task to give you. So, I thought that you could help the farmers. It's not easy work, but at least you can get some fresh air. Plus, you won't have to wear these," Lucas grabs the chain connecting her shackles and produces a set of keys. "So, it's a win-win."

While Lucas unlocks her shackles and lets her hands free, Emma looks at him with a look of bewilderment. "Why are you being so nice to me?" She asks. "The other guards barely say a word to me and, if they'd got to choose what I did, I'd be cleaning toilets or something."

Lucas takes her shackles away, then lifts a shoulder. "You just seem like you need a friend. You've got the Evil Queen breathing down your neck every day, and the fact that she tortured you yesterday has been the talk of the castle all morning. The only reason that you're here is because you trespassed, it's not like you're a serial killer. I don't think that you deserve to be treated the way that you have been, so until you do something worthy of it, I'm going to be nice to you."

Emma smiles at Lucas, wishing that she could see his face and make sure that he's being serious. She fleetingly wonders if Lucas is a spy for the Queen, sent to befriend Emma and relay any information he gains back to Regina. It's a very real possibility, so Emma tells herself to be careful what she says around him, but she can at least enjoy the benefits that Lucas offers her in the mean time.

Lucas turns to the direction of the crops and points to an older-looking man who is digging around in the soil. "That's Mitch," Lucas says. "Go over to him and tell him that I sent you. He'll give you a task to do. I'll be over here, keeping an eye on you."

Emma looks at him and raises an eyebrow, her way letting him know that she doesn't appreciate the lack of trust.

"Sorry," Lucas adds innocently. "Queen's orders."

Emma rolls her eyes and shakes her head, but there's a small smile on her face. This day may just be the best one yet.

* * *

Emma has a layer of sweat all over her skin, mud covering her body and aching bones from harvesting potatoes. But she doesn't mind. She's just enjoying being outside, where she's able to move freely without being restrained by her shackles or the four walls of her cell.

She's been working for around two hours when Mitch dismisses her, telling her to eat something and drink some water so that she can build up her energy and finish her job. Emma walks back up to the castle, to where Lucas is standing and waiting for her with a sandwich and an apple.

"Thanks," Emma says, gratefully accepting the refreshments. She brings the apple to her mouth, about to take a bite, but then pauses and looks to Lucas. "Is this safe?"

She hears him chuckle. "I swear that it's not poisoned if that's what you mean."

Emma nods and takes a giant bite. She chews and swallows, then waits to see if she'll feel any effects of poison or a sleeping curse. When nothing has happened after a moment, she turns back to Lucas.

"Can I have some water?"

Lucas nods his head and points to the left. "There's a water pump just down there."

Emma smiles to him and walks in the direction that he had pointed in, and in a couple of minutes finds what she is looking for.

When she gets to the pump, she puts a bucket under the spout and fills it halfway, then cups some water in her hands and brings it to her lips. She drinks until she feels satisfied, then uses the rest of the water to wash her face.

She doesn't have a towel to dry herself off, so she has to let her skin dry naturally. Her damp skin in the cool breeze makes her a little chilly, but it's nicer than being covered in sweat and mud.

As she stands up, about to go and find somewhere to sit and eat her lunch, someone walks past her. She turns her head to the side so that she can see the retreating form, just to see if she knows the person. Of course, she doesn't expect to. She only knows a few people in the Enchanted Forest, and hardly any of them would be on the Evil Queen's castle grounds. That's why it takes her by surprise when she recognises the back of the person who has just walked by.

Emma racks her brain, trying to place the man. He's tall and has brown hair, and Emma can see the hint of a beard on his-

When it dawns on Emma who the man is, it feels like all of the air is knocked from her lungs. She never thought she'd see him again. It's literally like she's seeing a ghost.

"Graham..." Emma breathes, just loud enough for herself to hear.

He's obviously dressed differently than what she's used to. People in the Enchanted Forest don't wear leather jackets and jeans, which is what the ex-sheriff wore in Storybrooke. Now, he's wearing some sort of leather tunic and riding pants, with a quiver of arrows strapped to his back. Despite the major change in fashion choice, he's still undoubtedly Sheriff Graham.

Seeing him again is like a breath of fresh air for Emma. She had always been fond of her boss, seeing as he was such a nice guy, and his death came as a horrible shock to her. She never thought she'd see him again, but here he is, living and breathing and walking around in the Enchanted Forest.

Graham keeps walking, getting further and further away from Emma, which makes her panic because she hasn't seen him in so long and she just wants to talk to him again, after all this time.

"Graham!" Emma calls before she can stop herself.

He glances over his shoulder and, after seeing Emma looking at him, stops walking and turns to face her. He doesn't close the distance between them, but he calls back to her.

"Are you talking to me?" He asks. Actually hearing his voice, hearing the familiar Irish lilt, convinces Emma that this isn't just a figment of her imagination. She isn't hallucinating after being driven insane by her stay here in the Evil Queen's castle. This is real. Graham is here, standing right in front of her.

Emma nods her head, confirming that she is talking to him.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I think you've got the wrong person. My name isn't Graham."

Emma had known when she called the name that Graham wouldn't recognise it, seeing as he hasn't been given his Storybrooke counterpart yet. But she didn't know what else to call him, which is why she had stuck with what she knew.

Now that she has his attention, she shakes her head as though she has made a mistake. "Right," She brings a hand to her head. "You're right. You just look a lot like someone that I used to know."

"Ah," Graham nods his head in understanding, then takes a few steps closer to Emma. "That's OK. It's an easy mistake to make. I've been told I have a very nondescript face," He says with humorous self-deprecation.

Emma smiles at the easy way he talks to her. Some things never change. "Yeah, I'm sure that's it," Emma agrees with a smile.

Graham rolls his eyes jokingly, then tilts his head to the side. "You know, I've never seen you around here before."

The topic change to Emma's past, or why she's currently at the castle, makes her worried that she'll say the wrong thing and give away the fact that there's more to her story than she lets on. Though, even if she does accidentally let it slip that she's from the future, it wouldn't matter unless the person she tells it to is Regina. Everyone else will forget all about her as soon as the curse is cast, which means the future won't be affected by the fact that Emma has met the people before. That brings her some comfort, but she still feels rather anxious.

"I've only been here or a few days," Emma informs Graham.

"Do you work for the Queen?"

"Uh..." Emma scratches the back of her neck awkwardly. "Not exactly. I'm a prisoner."

"Oh," Graham raises his eyebrows, and Emma notices the way that he pulls back, both physically and mentally. An air of wariness has taken over him, and Emma hates that it has to be this way.

"I mean, I just trespassed." Emma shrugs and tries to play down her arrest as much as possible to make it clear that she isn't someone who Graham needs to fear. There isn't much to play down, to be honest, seeing as she hasn't committed any major crimes. "I didn't know that I was on the Queen's land, but I was seen by a guard and he brought me here, and now... I'm still here."

"Oh," Graham says again, but this time his shoulders sag in relief.

"Do _you_ work for the Queen?" Emma asks, swiftly changing the subject.

"I'm her huntsman," Graham confirms.

"Right." Emma nods her head. "And what, exactly, does that entail?"

"Hunting," Graham answers simply, with a small laugh.

"Hunting what?"

Graham frowns at the question, as though he doesn't understand why he's being asked it or what kind of answer he's supposed to give. "Whatever the Queen tells me to hunt."

Emma nods her head. She doesn't know what she had expected him to say. He obviously wasn't going to admit that he hunts and kills people, or that he had been assigned to kill Snow White and had failed his mission, which is why he's still here. But now he's looking at her like she's insane, and Emma wishes she hadn't pried.

"Which reminds me that I should get going," Graham looks up at the sky and studies it for a moment. Emma also looks up but doesn't see anything of interest, other than a few clouds. "I've got things that I need to do before nightfall," Oh, he must have been checking the sun's position for the time of day. "and I don't feel like facing the Queen's wrath if I don't finish them. You must know that she's got a fiery temper."

"Yes, I'm familiar with her temper," Emma confirms, automatically bringing a hand to her back, which is still sore from her whipping.

Graham looks back at her and offers a smile. "Well, it was nice meeting you."

"You too." Emma nods.

"Maybe I'll see you around," Graham suggests, then backs away from her. After he's walked backwards a few steps, he turns around and walks away.

Emma watches him retreat, hoping that she does see him again. It's nice to see a friendly face, at last.

* * *

An hour later, and Emma is back to harvesting crops. She's already filled a wheelbarrow full of potatoes and carrots, which she thinks is quite impressive if she does say so herself. Perhaps she missed her calling in the farming industry.

After taking her load of vegetables to the door near the kitchen, which is where she had been instructed to take them, she goes back to Mitch for more instructions.

"Cucumbers," He says as a reply.

"I'm sorry?"

"Cucumbers," Mitch repeats. When Emma doesn't move, he stands up straight and leans against his shovel. His face is red, dirty and glistening with sweat, and his grey hair is wild. Emma wonders whether or not she looks as bad as he does. "In the back corner over there," Mitch points to the bit of land furthest away from the castle. "There are some cucumbers growing. See if they're ready and, if they are, harvest them."

Emma nods her head and mock salutes him. "Yes, sir."

Mitch narrows his eyes at her and shakes his head. "Please tell me that you're not a permanent member of the team."

Emma tries not to be too offended. "Don't you worry, I presume that I'll be locked away again by the evening, and I'll be out of your hair."

"But will you be back here tomorrow?"

Emma lifts a shoulder, conveying that she isn't certain. "Probably not. I bet the queen will have something else in store for me."

Mitch grunts and gets back to digging in the soil, so Emma turns to leave. She thinks about what she will be doing this time tomorrow, and whether or not it will be pleasant. Her guess is that it probably won't be, but she had thought that at the beginning of today, too, and it had ended up being her favourite day so far. Still, she can't help but fear that she will be back in that dreaded room with the chains, where Regina may whip her again.

Thoughts of Regina and what she has planned for Emma cause Emma's eyes to automatically move to the castle. It's a subconscious movement, like her eyes are moving in the direction of her brain, but she looks up to the third floor, which is where she's sure Regina's room is. She doesn't even realise that she's looking until she spots someone in one of the rooms.

Well, she spots the _outline_ of someone in one of the rooms. Even when she squints her eyes, it's impossible for her to make out the facial features of the person because she's so far away, but she can tell that they're looking out of the window. Emma is about to look away, uninterested in a random person in a random room of the castle, but then she makes out the outline of an extravagant hairdo, and she realises that it's Regina.

Emma keeps looking at the window, hoping that her eyes will adjust like eyes adjust to the dark and she'll suddenly be able to make out more than just a blurry blob. It doesn't work, though. While she is certain that Regina is looking at her, it's not clear enough for her to know it as a fact.

After a minute of Emma staring, Regina turns and walks away, leaving Emma looking at another empty window. Emma looks away and after a moment starts to walk towards the cucumber patch. On her way, all she can think about it Regina, and whether or not she was looking at her, and if she was,

On her way, all she can think about is Regina, and whether or not she was looking at her, and if she was, _why_ she was looking at her. Earlier, Lucas had said that the Queen was interested in her, and Emma had thought that the Queen wanted to seduce her for the first couple of days. But then, Regina had whipped her and locked her in the dungeon, which completely contradicted that notion.

What did that woman want from her?

After a few minutes, Emma reaches the cucumbers which, in her opinion, look like they're ready to be dug up. Instead of just getting stuck in, like she had earlier, she turns and looks back at the castle. The windows are still empty, so Emma shakes her head and looks back down... and then realises something.

Less than 10 metres away from her, the forest starts. That must mean that she's on the edge of the castle grounds, or even if she isn't, once she's in the foliage she'll be out of sight. It's too easy for her. Too easy for her to just make a run for it and search for her family. True, she doesn't know her way around the Enchanted Forest so she would have no idea where to go, but anywhere would be better than here.

If she made it to the forest, she could run, it didn't matter where as long as she was moving away from the castle. She would worry about finding Mary Margaret, David and Killian once she was safely away from the Evil Queen.

This was the opportunity that she had been waiting for. The chance to escape.

Emma turns back, trying not to look suspicious while she decides whether or not this is a good idea. She looks around, seeing if anyone is watching her. The other workers are too busy doing whatever tasks they have been assigned, so she isn't worried about them spotting her. By the door of the castle, two guards are chatting to each other. She assumes that one of them should be watching her, though she knows that it isn't Lucas because he was dismissed about half an hour ago. That relieves some of her guilt as she wouldn't want the only person who has been nice to her to be punished because of her actions. Whoever has been assigned to watch her in his place is too busy having a chin wag to notice if she suddenly tried to escape.

She could just run into the forest, completely unnoticed. Of course, they'd realise sooner or later that she is gone, but she'd still have a headstart. Even if they realise sooner than she hopes, she's a fast runner, and she's fit, with good stamina. She may be able to outrun them.

She could actually do this; she could get away, but only if she goes now. If she waits any longer, her opportunity may pass. The guards may stop talking, she may get called inside, and she may never get the chance to escape again.

Of course, it's a risk. If she gets caught, she may get killed instantly by Regina. But it's a risk that she's willing to take.

With one last glance at the guards to make sure they're too preoccupied to be watching her and a glance at the window to make sure Regina hasn't returned, Emma moves towards the forest. She moves slowly at first, not wanting to draw attention to herself, but once it becomes clear that she's attempting to escape, she starts running.

She runs without looking back, not wanting to slow down even a little bit. It only takes her a couple of seconds to reach the forest, and as her first foot is about to hit the leaf-covered forest floor, something happens.

At first, it feels like she's run into a wall. There's an inexplicable resistance, something stopping her from escaping. But then, the invisible wall becomes visible. A purple and black magic field appears, which sparks where Emma's body is touching it. Before Emma can interpret what it is, she feels a jolt run through her body as she gets a shock. The blast is so powerful that it throws her backwards quite a few feet, then she lands heavily on the grass-covered floor, skidding on her back until she loses momentum.

Emma lies on the ground, staring up at the sky. Her whole body feels like it's vibrating and all of her skin is tingling from the shock. It feels like she's just been electrocuted, even though she knows that it was some magical barrier that Regina had created.

How could she have been so stupid? Thinking that the Evil Queen would ever give her such an easy escape route? Regina is too smart to not implement a backup strategy just in case, by some miracle, Emma found a way past the guards.

When she landed on the floor, Emma landed on the already damaged skin on her back. The pain that she feels is immense, even worse than it had been yesterday, and she wishes that she didn't have the magic retraining cuff on. If she could do magic, she could heal her wounds and wouldn't be in so much pain.

Emma hears voices and the footsteps of someone rushing towards her. A moment later, a guard appears in her line of sight, looking down at her with no concern.

"Oh my," He says with a cruel laugh. "Just wait until the queen finds out about this little escapade."

Emma groans, partly in pain and partly in dread of what the Evil Queen will do to her now.

* * *

 **A/N: Look at me, updating only a couple of days apart :)**

 **I thought that this was going to be a short chapter just to set the scene of Emma's escape attempt, but it turned out to be rather long somehow. So, I apologise if you prefer shorter chapters.**

 **Reviews are always appreciated :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Unsurprisingly, Emma ends up back in the room that she'd been whipped in the day prior. The guard who brings her here is smug the entire time, as though he has been hoping that this would happen. He chains Emma's wrists above her head, saying something about how unhappy the queen will be when she finds out what she has done, and laughing when he suggests that her punishment will be severe.

As soon as Emma's wrists are secure, he leaves the room, probably to get Regina.

Once Emma is alone with her thoughts, all she does is kick herself for being such an idiot. Trying to escape, thinking that she had a chance of getting away, was incredibly stupid of her. How could she have actually thought that it would be so easy? That she would just be able to run into the forest and not get caught? It seems so obvious now that she never actually had a chance of getting away, but at the time she had been blinded by foolish hope. She had chosen to ignore what she already knew, which is that Regina is smart enough and is powerful enough to make it impossible for Emma to leave. It serves Emma right for being so impulsive and not thinking her decision through properly.

Now, another impending punishment looms over her and she doesn't know if she can take it. Her body already hurts all over; her back is still sore from yesterday and has now been made worse from the blast she received; her bones are aching from her day of farming and from the shock that Regina's magic gave her. How much more can she realistically take before she breaks?

Emma doesn't know how long she's left waiting. It could be ten minutes, or it could be half an hour, but eventually the door opens and Regina walks in. She's wearing her mayor-face; the face where she doesn't let her expression give anything away. Is she angry? Upset? Indifferent? Emma can't tell.

What she does know is that the Evil Queen has her hair piled on top of her head in some fancy up-do, though her dress is quite casual. At least, for the Evil Queen, it is. It's long and burgundy and hugs her body, though it doesn't have any of the fancy detailing that some of her other dresses have. If Emma was faced with Regina wearing the dress instead of the queen, she would have taken the time to notice how beautiful she looked in it. Though today, Emma barely gives it a second glance.

"Well, Miss Swan," The Evil Queen looks at Emma and tilts her head to the side. "It seems you can't go one day without doing something to get my attention, doesn't it?"

Emma doesn't know how to answer that, so she doesn't say anything. She looks down, finding herself resenting the brunette more when she's looking at her.

"So, I'm told that you tried to escape," Regina says, almost conversationally. "Trying to run away from me," The queen feigns offence. "Now that's not very polite, is it, dear?"

"I just want my freedom," Emma states, still looking at the ground.

"You gave that up the day that you were arrested."

Emma's heart sinks, knowing how true those words are and wondering when, or if, she would ever be allowed to leave.

"And I believe that you experienced the effects of my spell," Regina says, again talking like they're chatting over coffee. "It's quite impressive, isn't it?"

"It's efficient," Emma acknowledges bitterly.

"Yes, well," The queen accepts modestly. "If I'm being honest, I was hoping that it would never have to be used. At least, not on you, and certainly not after yesterday."

Emma looks up and frowns at the brunette, silently asking her to expand on the statement.

"The things that you said about me," Regina looks down at her hands as she speaks, and Emma wonders if it's because she's scared that some real emotion will show through. "Maybe they're true," She admits. "Maybe I am a horrible person, and maybe I'm dark and twisted. But you said that I'm evil. That's the one word that I resent." Regina looks up for a moment and allows herself to laugh mirthlessly. "Which is ridiculous, because I'm the Evil Queen. Evil is right there in the name, it's what everyone thinks of me. But... I don't know. I don't think of myself as evil."

For a brief moment, Emma sees some genuine sadness in the queen's eyes, and she can't help but feel bad for her. At the end of the day, she's still Regina, who Emma cares about immensely. Emma can't bear the thought of her being unhappy even if, at this moment in time, she is immoral and wicked.

"Maybe you're not evil, but you do evil things," Emma suggests.

"Well, if there's one thing that I've learnt in my life, it's that evil is not born. It's made." Regina looks up at Emma. "You think that I've been evil towards you?"

Emma nods her head because, seriously, how is holding someone prisoner and torturing them not an evil thing to do?

"Did you ever consider that maybe you made me treat you this way?"

Emma frowns and shakes her head, finding the suggestion preposterous.

"You think it's crazy," Regina says, as though she suspected as much. "But let me refresh your memory. I didn't just track you down in one of the villages and decide to bring you here; you were arrested because you broke one of my laws. Admittedly, it wasn't a serious offence, but the only reason that you are in this castle is because of something that _you_ did. And, if you recall, on the first day, I didn't lock you in the dungeon. I gave you a room. I didn't even give you a prison sentence; your 'punishment' was just being here. Just spending time with me."

Emma shakes her head, refusing to let Regina make everything that had happened her fault. "No. The punishment was that you were going to make me stay here against my will. And you didn't say that I just had to be here to spend time with you. You implied that you were going to sleep with me, which I never consented to, so it would have been rape."

At the mention of the word 'rape', Regina suddenly steps forward, letting Emma know that she'd struck a nerve. "You can accuse me of a lot of things, Miss Swan, but rape is not one of them. I might have thought that you were attractive, and maybe I wouldn't have minded bedding you, but I would never have done so unless you agreed and consented."

Emma swallows and nods her head, feeling guilty for bringing up the 'R' word. "Alright." She accepts. "You're right."

Regina keeps looking at Emma for a moment, then looks back down at her hands again. "The only reason that you ended up in the dungeon is because you refused to respect me. And you pushed me away when I tried to kiss you. How do you think that made me feel? I was embarrassed, I'm not used to being rejected, so maybe I didn't handle it well, but still. And finally, the only reason that I punished you yesterday is because you _still_ refuse to obey your queen. So, maybe I have been horrible to you since you've arrived here, but it hasn't been unprovoked."

"I still think that what you've done is unreasonable," Emma admits. "Most people don't hold someone prisoner for rejecting them. They might be hurt or embarrassed, but they don't lock them in a dungeon."

"I never said that I wasn't a horrible person."

That sentence annoys Emma because she knows that Regina has the ability to be a good person. She has witnessed it firsthand in Storybrooke. But Emma can't exactly say that without giving away that she is actually from the future, and she also needs Regina to remain evil for the time being so that she casts the curse and the timeline isn't altered.

"And now," Regina shakes her head, looking disappointed. "You've tried to escape, which means that I need to punish you again and you're going to think that I'm evil."

"No." Emma shakes her head, the word 'punishment' filling her with dread. "You don't need to punish me, your majesty. I've been punished enough. Your spell threw me through the air, I landed on my back. The skin was already messed up from yesterday, but now... please don't whip me again." Emma realises that she's practically begging, but she doesn't care anymore.

"The fact that you hurt your back again is hardly my fault. _You_ tried to escape," Regina says defensively.

"I never said it was your fault but I just don't think I could take another whipping."

"It's that bad?" Regina asks, causing Emma to nod emphatically.

Regina walks towards Emma, slowly and hesitantly, as if waiting for something to stop her. She walks around her until she's behind her, and Emma braces herself for more pain. However, instead of pain, she feels Regina's hand on the small of her back, tugging softly at the back of her shirt where it's tucked into her riding pants.

"May I?" Regina asks.

Emma looks to the side so that she can see the brunette out of the corner of her eye. She doesn't know what Regina is going to do, but she nods her head. It's better than being whipped.

Regina untucks Emma's shirt, then lifts the back of it so that she can see the skin. Emma's breath becomes shallow with nervousness. She's suddenly aware of the fact that her arms are chained above her head, so she can't defend herself, which makes her vulnerable. Her breath hitches when she feels Regina's fingers on her skin, running softly over it down the length of your spine.

"You're bleeding," Regina informs her. Her voice is so close to Emma's ear and it reminds her of how close the brunette is.

"Oh?" Emma says, not knowing how else to respond.

"I didn't do this," Regina says. "I made sure that I didn't break your skin yesterday. It must have been when you landed on your back earlier."

"Well, I skidded along the floor," Emma informs her. "So you're probably right."

Regina doesn't reply, but she also doesn't move away. For a moment, they just stand there, with Emma waiting for the brunette to react and Regina holding Emma's shirt up. But then, Emma feels her skin start to tingle, and the pain begins to subside.

"What are you doing?" She asks, trying to look over her shoulder but unable to twist enough to actually see.

"Healing you."

After another second, the tingling stops and Regina pulls Emma's shirt down so that she's covered again.

"Why?" Emma asks, noticing that Regina stays behind her instead of walking to the front.

"Because..." Regina sighs. "I don't... I didn't want it to get infected."

Emma is sceptical about whether or not that's true, but she has no reason to think that Regina would do it for any other reason.

Emma hears a 'woosh' sound, so looks over her shoulder and sees that Regina is now holding a whip. She had been thinking that they were making progress, but that thought goes out of the window faster than she can say 'God damn it.'

"I thought..." Emma wriggles, trying to properly look at Regina and also trying to put some distance between them. "Please don't. Not again."

"I have to," Regina says, and Emma swears that it sounds like she doesn't want to. "You tried to escape, I have to punish you."

"You don't!" Emma insists, desperate for this not to happen. "I've learnt my lesson, I swear!"

"Emma..."

"You don't need to."

"Stop it," Regina says, sounding tired all of a sudden. "I'm not a good person, and you're not going to change that, no matter how many speeches you give me. I need to do this. It's what I do."

"Please..."

"Ten strikes," Regina states, putting her hand on Emma's shoulder as though it's going to offer comfort; as though the hand that is about to beat Emma is going to offer her comfort. The most twisted part is probably that it really does make Emma relax slightly. "Ten strikes of the whip is your punishment, then you can go back to your cell."

Emma wants to protest again, but she knows she's fighting a losing battle. She lets her body sag in defeat, and then Regina starts walking backwards.

After a second, Emma feels it. The whip hits her back, sending a shooting pain across her skin. Her mind instantly goes to her childhood, to the abuse that she received, and she desperately tries to push it away.

"One..." Regina counts, then strikes again.

Emma winces at the pain, but also because the flashbacks are returning.

"Two..."

Emma closes her eyes and braces herself.

"Three..."

* * *

 _Nine-year-old Emma Swan had just returned home from school. She opened the door to her bedroom, which she shared with three other girls, and hung her bag on a hook behind the door. The room had three beds in it: a bunk bed on the left, and a single bed on the right. Emma had been the last to arrive, so she had got the worst of the lot: the bottom bunk._

 _She turned to her bed, about to sit down and read some pages of her book, but before she could move she noticed that something was different. She stood staring for a moment, knowing that something was wrong but unable to pinpoint exactly what it was._

 _But then it hit her, making her face drain of blood. Her blanket, her baby blanket, her favourite possession in the entire world, the only thing that she had that belonged to her birth parents, was_ _missing from its usual spot on the foot of her bed._

 _She knew immediately that someone had taken it, and she also knew_ who _had taken it. Alison, a_ _girl a couple of years older than Emma, with dark hair, freckles and ice blue eyes,_ _always made fun of her for still needing a blanket. She called Emma a baby and all sorts of other names, not seeming to understand its sentimental value to her. Of course it was Alison who had taken it._

 _Emma marched out of her room and down the stairs, where she knew she would find Alison. She poked her head into the living room, though that was empty, so she made her way to the playroom. When she opened the door, her eyes landed on her nemesis, who was using Emma's blanket to play a game of tug of war with one of the younger children in the house._

 _"Hey!" Emma shouted, then wasted no time in leaping across the room and grabbing her beloved blanket, snatching it right out of the hands of the two other girls._

 _She ignored the sniggers she heard from Alison while she examined her blanket, making sure that it was OK. But then she discovered that it had a hole in it. Her blanket. Her_ blanket _had a hole in it._

 _Emma screamed and shouted and (embarrassingly) cried in front of all the other children. Then, she grabbed Alison's precious Walkman, which she had only just been given for her birthday last week, and threw it across the room. As soon as it left her hand, she had known she had made a colossal mistake. This was only confirmed when the Walkman hit the wall and shattered, parts flying in all directions._

 _Alison screamed at the top of her lungs for their foster mother to come,_ _almost deafening Emma in the process._

 _Suddenly filled with fear, Emma had taken her blanket and raced back to her bedroom, which is where she was now. For a second, she stood by her door, staring at the wall in shock. She couldn't believe that her blanket had a hole in it, she couldn't believe that she had broken Alison's Walkman. What had she done?_

 _She only moved when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs, slow and purposeful, almost definitely belonging to her foster mother. Terrified, Emma dived onto her bed and scrambled under the duvet so that she was hidden. Well, as hidden as she could get. There would be an Emma-shaped lump on the bed, but still._

 _"Emma," She heard her foster mother's voice from just outside the door, followed by a knock._

 _Emma remained silent, not that it mattered._ _After a moment, the door opened and Emma heard the woman step into the room and close the door behind her._

 _"Emma, are you going to come out from under there?"_

 _Emma didn't move, but squeezed her eyes closed, which made her realise that they were wet with tears. She wasn't sobbing, but she was silently crying in a mixture of fear and anger and sadness. She hugged her baby blanket to her, which usually brought her comfort, but now she just felt guilty that she had allowed it to get damaged._

 _Eventually, Emma felt a dip on the bed, then a hand pulling the covers away from her. Suddenly on display, Emma opened her eyes sheepishly and looked at the woman perched on the edge of her bed._

 _Marisa was her name, and she was unlike any of Emma's other foster mothers. For a start, she was beautiful. Possibly one of the most beautiful women that Emma had ever seen. She was tall and slim, with shoulder length, blonde hair and warm, blue eyes. She always wore dresses and heels, even though she was a stay-at-home foster parent. She was kind, friendly, intelligent and cooked delicious meals. Emma had been in the house for two months, and was yet to see Marisa shout or lose her composure._

 _She was practically perfect and one of the only foster parents that Emma had had that she actually_ liked _. She made all of the children in the house feel loved and special. Every time someone was upset about something, she would kiss their foreheads, and every time someone left for school, she would bend down so that they could kiss her cheek. Emma was actually happy here._

 _But now when Emma looked at her, she was giving Emma a look of disappointment, holding the broken Walkman in her hands, and Emma didn't feel happy at all._

 _"I believe that you were responsible for this," Marisa said, lifting her hand so Emma had a better view. "Would you like to explain yourself?"_

 _"It was her fault!" Emma desperately tried to pass blame and get herself out of trouble. "She stole my blanket and, look, there's a hole in it!" She hastily held up her blanket, blocking her view of her foster mother in the process._

 _"Alison told me about that," Marisa took the blanket and lowered it so that she could see Emma. "She said that it was an accident. She didn't mean to put a hole in your blanket."_

 _"Yes, she did!" Emma protested. "She always makes fun of me for it! She wanted to ruin it and she did!"_

 _Marisa looked disappointed that Emma was arguing about it. "Why did you break Alison's Walkman?"_

 _"Because she ruined my blanket," Emma answered as if it were obvious._

 _"You need to learn, Emma, that two wrongs don't make a right. Just because Alison damaged something of yours, it doesn't make it OK to damage something of hers, especially when what she did was an accident."_

 _"She's just saying that she that she doesn't get in trouble." Emma pouted._

 _"This is fixable," Marisa indicated to Emma's blanket. "But this isn't." She held up the Walkman. "Alison has wanted this for a long time, and when she finally got it, you've broken it."_

 _"Only because she put a hole in my blanket."_

 _"I will fix your blanket," Marisa said. "But you need to go and apologise to Alison."_

 _Apologise to the girl that had spent months antagonising her? No way._

 _"No." Emma folded her arms across her chest stubbornly and jutted out her bottom lip._

 _Marisa's eyebrows knitted together slightly, her look of disappointment turning into one of slight disbelief._

 _"Excuse me?"_

 _"I'm not apologising," Emma repeated. "She's the one who should apologise to me."_

 _Marisa smiled slightly, though it was anything but friendly. "Emma, if you do not obey me then we will have an argument, which I will win. Now, go and apologise at once, before you say something that you regret."_

 _"No." Emma shook her head. Usually, she wouldn't be so brave, but this was Marisa. Kind, lovely Marisa who would never hurt her... right?_

 _"You seem to have misunderstood, "Marisa's smile completely left her face. "I'm not asking you. I'm_ telling _you."_

 _"And I'm_ telling _you no." Emma retorted. Just like earlier, it was only after she had acted that she realised what a colossal mistake it was._

 _Like the flick of a switch, Marisa completely changed. Her calm, soothing personality vanished in an instant, replaced by one that radiated malice. Her eyes went dark as, before Emma could even comprehend what was happening, she reached out and grabbed Emma's wrist, squeezing it tightly._

 _Emma winced and tried to pull her hand away, but Marisa just held on tighter._

 _"Don't you dare speak to me like that, you little brat. If I tell you to do something, you do it. Do you understand?"_

 _Emma continued to try to get her wrist free, but felt Marisa's nails dig into her flesh. "Please let go of me, it hurts," Emma pleaded._

 _"I asked you a question."_

 _Emma felt Marisa's fingernails dig in deeper, and she was sure that her skin would break at any moment. "Yes, I understand."_

 _"Now, what are you going to do when I let go of you?" Marisa asked._ _Emma's eyes filled with tears as she groaned in pain. "_ What are you going to do, Emma _?"_

 _"Apologise to Alison," Emma answered._

 _"And are you going to do anything like this again?"_

 _Emma shook her head without hesitation._

 _Finally, Marisa let go of Emma, causing the young girl to bring her hand to her chest and rub it soothingly with her other hand. She looked down at her flesh, which was red from Marisa's death grip with little half-moons where her nails had dug into her._

 _Marisa sighed and stood up, as though disappointed that any of that had had to transpire. She brushed over her dress with her hands, putting her calm front back on, then smiled down at Emma as though nothing had happened._

 _"Now, clean your face and do as I've told you."_

 _Emma wiped her tear-stained cheeks and nodded her head obediently._

 _"But first, kiss me." Marisa said, leaning down and presenting Emma with her cheek._

 _Usually, Emma would have happily obliged, seeing as she was so fond of the other woman. Now, however, she hated her, and she had to force herself to lean forward and kiss her cheek._

 _Even people who Emma loved and trusted ended up hurting her in the end._

* * *

When Emma wakes up, she can feel that her cheeks are wet with tears. She reassures herself that it was just a dream. After being taken back to the dungeon, she had fallen asleep, and dreamt her childhood memory.

 _It isn't real,_ Emma tells herself. _It hasn't just happened. That was over twenty years ago. You're OK._

"What the hell did you do?!" Emma is startled when she hears Regina's voice.

She opens her eyes and looks in the direction that the sound had come from, only to be even more startled when she realises that she isn't in the dungeon anymore, which she is sure is where she fell asleep. Instead, she's in a large bedroom in the castle, lying on a queen-sized bed. The room has rouge walls and the furniture is a dark brown wood. She knows that she's never been here before, and she doesn't know why she's here now.

Regina is standing by the door, talking to a guard who is lingering nervously in the doorway. Emma frowns and lifts her head slightly so that she can see and hear what's going on.

"I didn't do anything!" The guard says adamantly. Emma recognises his voice, but can't immediately understand why. "The girl in the cell next to her called for a guard because she could hear Miss Swan crying. I went and tried to wake her." Oh! Emma realises suddenly that it's Lucas' voice. "But before I could, another guard came, who alerted you of Miss Swan's situation."

"And why didn't you think to tell me?"

"Honestly?" Lucas's voice turns bitter. "I thought you'd do more harm than good."

Regina lets out a short laugh, then lifts her hand, as though she's about to thrust it into Lucas' chest. Recognising that movement from the times she has seen Regina rip someone's heart out, Emma quickly sits up.

"No!"

Her voice causes the Evil Queen to pause, hand in mid-air, and turn to Emma. She looks at Emma curiously for a moment, then says dumbly, "You're awake,"

Emma chews on her lip and nods sheepishly, wondering why she is here, why Regina looks so concerned, and why Lucas just almost got his heart ripped out.

Regina turns back to Lucas and lowers her arm, somewhat hesitantly. "Wait outside," She instructs him. "I'll deal with you once I'm done in here."

Lucas nods, then looks to Emma in what she interprets as asking for permission to leave. Emma gives a quick nod, then Lucas retreats out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Once they are alone, Regina turns back to Emma and makes her way towards the bed. Emma sits up warily, wondering what is going on and why Regina looks so serious. How did Emma even get here?

"Are you OK?" The queen asks once she's at the side of the bed.

"I'm fine," Emma confirms. "But why am I here?"

Regina looks down and begins to toy with the edge of the bed sheets in front of her. "You must have been having a bad dream," Regina informs her. "The woman in the cell next to you-"

"Marie," Emma supplies.

"Yes, Marie." Regina nods, though Emma suspects that she has no clue who the girl is. As Emma had repeatedly been told, The Evil Queen doesn't care about her prisoners. "She heard you suffering so she called a guard. You were crying in your sleep, and sweating and writhing."

"Oh," Emma looks down self-consciously. She'd known that she'd had a bad dream, but she hadn't realised that she made it so clear to people externally. Now that she knows, she feels embarrassed about it. She had been so bad that Marie had thought to alert a guard, who had decided to alert the queen. It must have been pretty bad.

"But," Emma realises something and frowns. "That doesn't explain why I'm here and not in my cell."

The queen clears her throat. "The guards couldn't wake you and I wanted to see you for myself, so I brought you here. With magic."

"Oh," Emma nods in understanding, then looks away. She doesn't really know what else to do or say, so an awkward silence descends over the room.

It's broken by Regina a couple of minutes later. "Emma," She says, and for the first time since she got here, Emma hears the queen sounding slightly unsure of herself. "May I ask what you were dreaming about?"

Emma moves so that she's lying down again and stares at the ceiling. "I don't want to talk about it."

"I understand," Regina nods, then sits on the edge of the bed. The slight dip that she creates reminds Emma of when Marisa sat on her bed in the dream, and she closes her eyes to block it out.

"Do you have a lot of bad dreams?" Regina asks.

"Not anymore."

"So, you used to?"

"When I was a child," Emma confirms. "And a teen. But they stopped by the time I was eighteen."

"Do you know what caused them?"

"I have an idea," Emma confirms with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"Do you know what caused this one?"

Emma opens her eyes and studies the other woman, but Regina is a closed book, watching Emma just as closely. "Why are you asking all these questions?"

"Just answer me."

Emma sighs and brings a hand to her head. It's only when she does that that she feels that her head is damp with sweat, particularly her hair. "Yes, I know what caused it."

"Did one of the guards do something to you when you were on your way to the dungeon? Did they hurt you?"

Emma shakes her head no.

There's a pause, and then Regina stands up, grabbing an old clock from the beside table and throwing it across the room. It hits the wall and shatters, shards of glass flying everywhere. Emma physically jumps at Regina's sudden temper, and stares at the brunette without saying a word. Regina puts her hands on her hips and starts to pace at the foot of the bed.

"It was my fault, wasn't it?" She asks. "The dream. It's because of what I did to you."

"Yes." Emma confirms quietly, not understanding Regina's reaction, but worried that she would lash out again.

"Dammit!" Regina shouts.

She walks to the wall across from her, which has a mirror attached to it, and punches it with the side of her hand. Emma hears it crack, and when Regina moves her hand away, there are lines splaying out from the place where she'd hit it.

"How could I not have realised what I was becoming?" Regina says. "This is your fault!" She suddenly turns to Emma and looks at her accusingly. "With what you said about me yesterday, calling me evil and a horrible person. You made me look at myself and I _hate_ what I see."

Emma feels suddenly sympathetic towards the brunette, but doesn't say anything, doesn't know _what_ to say. While Regina is the Evil Queen, she can't exactly defend her and say that she isn't a bad person. Right now, she is. She doesn't have to be, Emma has learnt that from present-day Regina, but she is.

"I swore that I wouldn't become my mother," Regina says, mostly to herself. "But, if anything, I'm _worse_ than her."

"That's not true," Emma says reassuringly.

"What do you know?" The queen addresses Emma bitterly. "You didn't know my mother."

Emma wants to say that, actually, she has met Cora many times and has almost been killed by her. She wants to say that Regina isn't as bad as Cora was, that she is an amazing mother... which wouldn't even make sense to the Evil Queen, who couldn't have children.

But, obviously, she can't say any of that. She just has to sit and watch while Regina realises that she hates herself.

Regina sighs and leans against the wall. "Do you ever wish that you could go back in time? If you know that there's been a turning point in your life, a time where everything changed, do you wish that you could go back and change it?"

Emma thinks about it. She thinks about all the tough times in her life. First there's getting pregnant with Henry, but she could never regret that. There's putting him up for adoption, but if she hadn't done that, she wouldn't have her parents or any of her friends in her life because Henry wouldn't have been adopted by Regina and taken Emma to Storybrooke. Hell, even the abuse she received as a child is what led her to running away when she was seventeen, which is how she met Neal, which is how she got pregnant with Henry, which is how she ended up with her current life.

Emma can't find it in her to regret anything.

Besides, with her current situation, she no longer fancies time travel.

"No, I wouldn't want to change a thing."

Regina looks up, seemingly surprised by the answer, then just shakes her head. "Well, you're lucky." Emma watches the other woman think for a few moments, then the brunette looks back at her. "You wouldn't even want to go back to when you were caught trespassing? Go back and change it so that you were never caught and were never brought here?"

Emma thinks about it and shrugs. "I suppose I wish that it hadn't happened, but if I could go back in time and change it, I don't think I would." She admits. "Do you believe in fate?"

Regina lifts a shoulder.

"Well, I do," Emma informs the brunette. "I think that whatever happens was supposed to happen. I don't think we really get a say in anything. The universe already has it planned, and we're just living it out." Emma has to think that way, with how her life turned out. Being sent to another land in a wardrobe at birth, only to be brought back to her family by her son who had been adopted by the Evil Queen. "Everything happens for a reason."

"I'm having the hardest time finding a reason for why I've turned out like this," Regina admits, clearly sceptical of Emma's views.

Emma smiles to herself when she hears the Evil Queen say those words. All she can think about is the casting of the curse, Regina as the mayor of Storybrooke, Regina adopting Henry, the curse breaking, Regina giving Emma and Henry good memories, Regina working with Emma in Neverland, Regina becoming Emma's friend, Regina turning good, Regina being happy, the little family that they had created: Regina, Emma, Henry, Snow, David, Neal.

"Everything happens for a reason," Emma repeats. She says it slowly, enunciating every word clearly, so that it really gets through to Regina.

Regina continues to look at her for a few moments, as though trying to decide whether or not to believe her. Eventually, Regina pushes herself off the wall and starts to walk across the room, as though she's about to leave. Emma silently watches her, wondering whether what she had said has registered with Regina, and also wondering what she's supposed to do if she gets left alone. But then Regina stops, halfway towards her destination, and turns around. Her face portrays that she's got a question that's bugging her.

"I have to ask," She says. "Why are you being so nice to me? I've been terrible to you."

While Emma answers, she has the image of _her_ Regina in her mind; Storybrooke Regina. "I must just have a soft spot for you."

The queen, obviously unaware of her future self's long and, at times, arduous relationship with Emma, just frowns. "But why?"

Emma can't think of a reason why she would care for the woman who had tortured and kept her prisoner her even a little bit. At least, she can't think of a reason without mentioning everything that happens in the future. So, she just shrugs her shoulders.

The Evil Queen nods, seeming to understand her lack of a reason. "I don't say this very often," Regina says slowly, carefully. "So you need to understand how unbelievably lucky you are to hear this, but I'm sorry for the way that I've treated you. I'm sorry that I whipped you. I'm sorry that I am responsible for you having haunted dreams."

Emma is surprised to hear the Evil Queen apologising. The heartless, ruthless queen with no empathy, apologising.

"It's OK." Emma says. She doesn't think she could reject the apology even if she wanted to, not when it is such a huge leap for the queen to actually give it.

"I have somewhere that I need to be," Regina admits, almost apologetically. "But you can stay here for the night."

Emma raises her eyebrows, surprised by the kindness being displayed by the queen. Man, if she thinks that being given a bed is 'kindness' then she really _has_ been neglected these past few days.

Regina backs away, about to leave, but then Emma remembers something.

"Wait," She calls, causing the brunette to stop. "Please don't hurt Lucas."

"Lucas?" Regina raises an eyebrow questioningly.

Emma shakes her head, feeling disappointed that the queen doesn't even know the names of her guards. "The guard who you told to wait outside."

Regina seems to consider Emma's request for a moment. "I won't kill him," She decides, and Emma feels proud that she's got through to the woman even that much.

Regina opens the door and says one more thing before leaving. "You're a good person, Emma. Don't let the world change that."

* * *

 **A/N: Did they just make... _progress?_ No way! It's about time, I know.**

 **Bonus points to whoever knows which book series/film I borrowed Marisa from. I even kept her name the same, and I got the idea for the scene I wrote from the film she's in.**

 **Hope to see you next time :)**


	10. Chapter 10

"I'd forgotten how long it takes to get around in this place," David comments, his breath heavy from exertion.

"Aye," Hook agrees, "it makes you find a new appreciation for the vehicles in our realm, doesn't it?"

David nods his head and pushes a branch, which had been level with his face, out of the way so that he can keep walking.

"We would have reached Rumple's castle a lot quicker if we could walk on the paths," Snow adds, stepping over a fallen tree trunk. "Though that isn't possible seeing as we can't be seen by anyone."

The trio have been walking through the forest, avoiding anyone and everyone, for days now. Luckily, they have all lived in the Enchanted Forest at some point in their lives, so they know how to light a fire, how to find freshwater, how to hunt, and which plants are safe to eat. However, they are all a little out of practice when it comes to surviving in the wild, which is evident in the quick loss of energy they have all experienced.

"We would have reached Rumple's castle a lot quicker if we were travelling horseback," Killian says pointedly. He had suggested many times that they all find a steed to ride, though Mary Margaret and David had shot the idea down because it would involve interacting with people. It was better not to take any risks.

"We would have reached Rumple's castle a lot quicker if we had a car," David counters. "But, unfortunately, neither of those things are possible, so let's stop being unrealistic and get a move on."

"This whole thing is ridiculous, anyway," Killian grumbles. "What are we going to do when we get to the castle? Knock on the door and kindly ask the crocodile for a magical pocket-watch and a forgetting potion? Do you really expect him to hand them over to us willingly? You must be forgetting that this guy's motto is 'all magic comes with a price'. He'll try to strike a deal with us."

"It's not a good plan," David acknowledges. "But it's the only one we have."

"He's going to ask questions," Killian continues. "He'll want to know why we want them, and then what are we going to tell him? That we're from the future? That we need to find the Saviour, who hasn't been born yet in this realm, and save her from the Evil Queen who has kidnapped her?"

"I don't know what we're going to say to him yet, but-"

"And any interaction we have with him may alter the timeline, meaning that we might change the future."

"Will you stop?" David spins around to face Killian, his frustration clear on his face. "I've already said that this isn't a good plan, but what else do you want us to do? My daughter, your girlfriend, is in the hands of the Evil Queen right now. Do you understand how dangerous that is? We don't even know if Emma is still alive, and every second that she is in that castle, the chances that she is are getting slimmer and slimmer. We need to save her, and this is the only way we can. So, stop being so pessimistic and try to have some hope that this will work."

Killian clenches his jaw, not appreciating being told off. He shakes his head and walks around David, pushing some more branches out of the way. As he steps through the curtain of leaves, he realises that they're at the edge of the forest and there on the horizon sits a large castle.

"Is that...?"

"Rumple's castle," Snow finishes, stepping next to Killian. "We made it."

"Thank God." David sighs in relief, tipping his head back.

"Come on. Let's get the pocket-watch and the potion and then save Emma."

Snow immediately starts walking, as does David, but they both slow to a stop when they notice Killian lingering behind. They turn back to the pirate, silently asking what he's waiting for.

"I'm going to wait here," Killian informs them, scratching the back of his head with his hook. "We're in the past. Rumple wants me dead here, and I'm supposed to want him dead, too. I can't exactly go walking into the crocodile's den."

David nods his head in understanding, then reaches for Snow's hand. "Fair enough. We should be back before sundown."

Without further ado, Snow and David continue walking towards the awaiting castle while Killian sits down on the grass with an exhausted sigh.

* * *

As soon as the Evil Queen leaves the room, Emma falls into a dreamless sleep.

She wakes hours later, as the sun is starting to rise, still alone. She stretches in the bed with a content sigh, then sits up. She's not sure what she's supposed to do, or how long she's going to be left alone for, but she decides that there's no harm in looking around.

She gets out of bed, immediately noticing that her clothes are wrinkled from sleeping in them. She walks over to a chest of drawers at the side of the room, wondering if there will be any fresh clothes in it. But, as she opens each drawer, starting at the top and working her way down, it becomes apparent that they're all empty. She sighs and walks over to the wardrobe and checks in there, only to reach the same outcome.

She turns back to the room and scans it with her eyes. It only contains a bed, a chest of drawers, a wardrobe, a desk, a couple of bedside tables, and a bookshelf. It looks like it could be someone's bedroom, but Emma suspects that this isn't the case seeing as it is devoid of any personal items. The only thing added to make the place seem more welcoming is a painting of a black horse in a field that hangs on the wall. Maybe it's just a guest bedroom, Emma wonders, then ponders over how many guests the Evil Queen would actually have. She can't even imagine her having friends.

Emma shakes her head and walks over to the window. Outside, she can see some workers already in the field, getting ready to start their day. Beyond that is the forest, which looks endless from here. Even if Emma had escaped the other day, she would have probably spent days wandering helplessly through the trees, unsure where to go. Maybe it was for the best that she got caught. Emma didn't know the first thing about how to survive in the wilderness. Knowing her luck, she would have feasted on poisonous berries and ended up dead.

Emma reminds herself of the words she had said to Regina last night: everything happens for a reason. Maybe it was true, after all.

With that, Emma's mind goes back to the dark and mysterious Evil Queen. Clearly, what Emma had said to her a couple of days ago, about her being a bad person, had affected her.

Emma had never thought that her words would hit the queen so hard. To be honest, she had said them mostly for her own good, to get them off her chest and make it clear that she in no way approved of the cold-blooded murder of the guard. But the Evil Queen had listened to them and heard them and they had struck a chord with her. They have made her look at herself and her actions, and made her realise that she no longer likes herself. Although Emma doesn't feel good that she may have made the queen more unhappy, she is proud of herself that she has caused her to do that kind of self-assessment.

And last night, for the first time, Emma had seen the queen's guard come down, even if it was just a little bit. There was vulnerability in the way that the queen had displayed her emotions for Emma to see. Her guilt that she had caused Emma to have nightmares because of the whipping; her anguish at realising she's turning into her mother; her regret and desire to change how her life has turned out; her hatred for who she has become.

Somehow, the queen's mask had fallen and all of those feelings had slipped out while Emma was there to see them.

Emma understands now more than ever that the Evil Queen really is only 'evil' because of how much she's hurting. The queen is in pain, so she lashes out at others to make them hurt just as much as she does. Emma doesn't approve of the way that the queen makes herself feel better, but she also can't help but feel sympathy towards her. She must live a lonely and depressing life, and knowing that Regina is experiencing it, even if this is the past, kills Emma.

And then, while Emma looks out at the forest, the last thing that the queen had said to her comes into her head. _You're a good person, Emma. Don't let the world change that._

She smiles to herself when she thinks about how infuriating Regina had found her when she first arrived in Storybrooke. One of the reasons that she had hated her so much was because of the goodness the the queen had just told her never to change. It amuses Emma to think that, the things that Regina likes about her are also the things that she hates about her.

There's a fine line between love and hate, Emma thinks, then dismisses that thought. No, Regina doesn't love her. Not by a long shot.

Someone clears their throat behind Emma, startling her out of her thoughts. She jumps and spins around, seeing a guard standing by the door. She hadn't heard him come in and wonders how long he has been standing there for.

"The queen has asked to see you," He says, and Emma finds herself nodding automatically.

"Of course," Emma doesn't even need to think about walking over to the guard.

At first, she had found it irritating that the queen could request her presence and expect her to come running. Now, six days later, she actually does. Like a well-trained dog, she comes running when she's called.

She reasons with herself that she doesn't really have a say in the matter because the queen is more powerful than her. Even if she did try to put up a protest, she'd be dragged kicking and screaming. Like on her first full day in the castle, when she had tried to refuse going to breakfast with the queen and had ended up being knocked out and taken to her anyway. Going willingly just saves Emma a whole lot of time and energy.

But when she gets to the guard and puts her wrists together, waiting for them to be shackled from pure force of habit, the guard ignores the gesture and grabs her elbow, pulling her out of the room and down the hall.

Emma looks to the guard in confusion. "You aren't going to shackle me?" She asks. It seems particularly strange because, the last time Emma was left unchained, she'd tried to escape.

"The queen says it en't necessary anymore," The guard replies without looking at her. "You know there's no way of getting out of here, so she trusts you'll be good."

Emma doesn't feel the need to question it more, instead choosing to be thankful for the freedom. It feels good not to be shackled. She has resented being treated like a criminal since day one.

It's not a long walk to Regina's bedchambers, Emma discovers. The room that she'd slept in is a little down the corridor from the queen's room, so in no time at all the guard stops and knocks on a double door.

The queen's voice tells them to enter a moment later, and the guard opens the door for Emma.

The first thing Emma spots in the table for two, set out with breakfast, but the Evil Queen isn't standing near it. Instead, she's sitting in one of the armchairs. Emma glances down at the blue velvet dress with heels that the queen is wearing. Even though it's still early in the morning, the queen looks as flawless as ever. Emma hasn't seen herself in a mirror yet, but she guesses that her hair is messy from sleep and she might even still have pillow-imprints on her face. All at once, she feels inadequate compared to Regina, and has to consciously prevent it from showing on her face.

"Miss Swan," The queen greets, standing up and smoothing down her dress. The fact that Regina uses the name 'Miss Swan' is a good indication to what mood she's in. When the queen is vulnerable and she and Emma are connecting, like they had yesterday, she uses 'Emma', but when she's closed off, she uses 'Miss Swan'. Clearly she isn't in the mood to get deep today. Either that, or the fact that her guards are present means that she's got her walls up.

"Sleep well?" The queen asks.

"Very. Better than I have in days."

The queen looks neither happy nor sad to hear it, convincing Emma that she has, if fact, got her walls up. "Yes, I'm sure a proper bed was a nice change to the floor of the dungeon."

Emma nods. Never had there been a truer statement.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I asked to see you?" The queen walks to the centre of the room so that she's directly in front of Emma, who just nods again. "The reason that I called you here is because there's something that I'd like to show you."

Her expression gives nothing away. Is it something bad? Something good? Emma can't tell, and she wishes the queen would remove her mask so that she could know what's going on.

The queen looks behind Emma, to the door that the blonde had just walked through, and signals for someone to enter. Emma turns to see two guards: the one who brought her here, and another who seems to have appeared from no one. He's holding a cloche, concealing something on a large plate. While Emma wonders what it is, the guard walks past her to stand next to the queen.

Emma is intrigued by this, wondering what the queen could possibly have to surprise her with. The fact that it is on a plate makes her think it's food, and her stomach grumbles at the thought, informing her of how hungry she is. If the queen hears the noise, she doesn't comment on it, instead putting her hand on top of the cloche and looking at Emma as if to say 'are you ready'?

When Emma nods yet again, she lifts the cloche, stepping away as soon as she does to put as much distance between herself and the mystery item as she can. Emma also steps back, suddenly worried based purely on the queen's reaction, but then her eyes flicker to the plate and she sees that it's not that bad.

Disappointingly, it's not food, but it's also not something frightening enough to run a mile from.

It's a mouse.

And while the queen looks at it with much disdain and disgust, Emma just looks at it in confusion.

"It's a mouse," She states, but it's clearly not meant as a statement. There is an unvoiced question in there, asking why the hell the Evil Queen has brought her to her bedchambers to present her with a rodent.

Regina is a couple of metres away from little grey animal, which is on its hind legs sniffing at the air, but she side-glances at it. "Its not just any mouse, though I understand why you don't recognise it in this form."

Emma looks back to the animal, which is now walking to the edge of the plate as if it's trying to get to her. "What do you mean?"

"That's your little friend," Regina informs her. "Lucas, was it? The guard from yesterday. You asked me not to kill him, so-"

"So you turned him into a mouse," Emma finishes.

Regina looks at Emma with a hard expression. "You asked me not to kill him," She repeats, as though that explains everything. "He was rude to me and I had to teach him a lesson, but I listened to your only request, which was that I didn't kill him. So, yes, I turned him into a mouse, though the spell will wear off in a few days and he'll be back to his human form."

Emma watches the mouse - Lucas - as he continues to sniff the air in her direction as though he wants to be close to her. Emma caves and steps towards the plate that he's standing on, holding out her finger so that he can sniff at it. Regina watches, her face showing her repulsion.

"Would you get that thing out of here?" she says impatiently to the guard holding the plate. "I can hardly bear to be in the same room as it."

The guard nods obediently and steps around Emma, whose hand drops back to her side now that the mouse isn't sniffing it. As the guard departs, the queen dismisses the other guard as well so that she and Emma are alone.

As soon as the door clicks shut behind the two men, Emma turns back to the queen."You're not scared of a little mouse, are you?" she teases.

Regina scowls. "Of course not, though I won't be in the same room as one if it can be prevented. They're filthy creatures."

"You're the one who decided to turn him into a mouse," Emma reminds her. "You could have chosen a kitten, or a puppy." Emma looks down at her shoes and shrugs. "Or a tiny little dragon - that would have been cool."

When Emma glances at Regina, it's clear the queen is trying to hide a smile. "I'll try to be more creative the next time I turn someone into an animal."

"Does there have to be a next time?" Emma feels the need to ask. Although she'd rather the queen turn people into animals than kill them, there's still something niggling inside of her, reminding her that it's still not OK. It must be in her Saviour genes. Or maybe it's because she's a normal person with moral principles.

"I could have killed him," the queen reminds her. "But I didn't, upon your request. Now you're trying to tell me that I can't turn people into animals either?"

"I'd prefer it if you didn't."

"Don't push your luck, Miss Swan. Take the victory." The queen doesn't sound angry, or upset in anyway, come to that. In fact, it's quite nice to have a normal conversation with her, even if it is about a completely abnormal situation. It reminds Emma of being in Storybrooke with present-day Regina.

"Now," The queen claps her hands together and turns to face the breakfast table. "Care to join me for breakfast?" At the mention of a meal, Emma's stomach grumbles again. This time, the queen turns to her and lifts an eyebrow, her eyes going to Emma's stomach and then back to her face with a knowing smirk. "It sounds like your stomach would appreciate it," she comments as she makes her way to the table and takes a seat. "Though I do have one condition, and that's that you won't think about using your knife against me like you were going to the last time."

Emma smiles uncomfortably at the mention of the time she'd considered attacking the queen. "Sure." She heads for the seat across from Regina. "And I promise not to use my cutlery as a weapon against you. After all, you let Lucas live, so I suppose I owe you one."

It's only meant as a joke, but Regina looks at Emma thoughtfully. "You're right. I suppose you _do_ owe me."

The look on Regina's face, as if she's trying to think of something that Emma could do to repay the debt, makes her squirm a little. But, for once, the Evil Queen doesn't look menacing. It's not a look that says she's going to put Emma through hell. If anything, it's playful and mischievous and it makes Emma smile.

"Don't be getting any crazy ideas," Emma says with a nervous laugh. "If anything, it was just a figure of speech."

"Hmm," The noise is supposed to sound like Regina agreeing, but the accompanied smug look means that Emma can practically see the cogs turning in the queen's head.

"I don't owe you _that_ much. You've kept me prisoner for six days now; one act of kindness isn't going to make me owe you, I don't know, my firstborn child."

At that, Regina's face drops, becoming stony and closed-off, reminding Emma that she and the queen always seem to take two steps forwards and one step back. Emma doesn't even know why she'd said the words; they obviously weren't going to be well-received, given that the queen has never appreciated being reminded of her evil acts. Though sometimes Emma says stupid things without thinking them through, and this was clearly one of those times.

The queen looks down at the bread and cheese in front of her, which is what she and Emma are having for breakfast today and also happens to be the closest thing to grilled cheese that Emma's had in the past six days. Going so long without her beloved grilled cheese has been difficult, but the excitement that she should feel upon having something so similar doesn't come now that she's ruined Regina's mood.

While the queen starts to slice some cheese for herself more aggressively than necessary, Emma sighs and says, "Don't do this."

"Do what?"

"This," Emma indicates to the queen in general. "Close yourself off. We were having a normal conversation for once and now you're mad at me just because I said something stupid. I didn't mean to upset you."

Regina scoffs. "Oh please, Miss Swan, you didn't _upset_ me."

"Fine. I didn't mean to piss you off. Whatever." The verb she chooses is irrelevant, all that matters is that her words have made Regina unhappy. A silence stretches out between them while Emma watches the queen and the queen ignores her and continues slicing cheese. "What was it that you've taken issue with? Me reminding you that I've been prisoner for six days or the joke about my firstborn child?"

"Just shut up and eat, Miss Swan," Regina says tiredly.

"Not until you tell me why you're... whatever you're feeling so that I can fix it."

"And why would you want to fix it?" Regina looks at Emma with exaggerated curiosity. She's definitely pissed off. "As you just said, I've kept you prisoner for six days. If you were in your right mind, you would want me to be miserable."

"Then maybe I'm not in my right mind."

Regina gives her a look that says 'you can say that again', which actually makes Emma smile because, even though it isn't meant as a compliment, it reminds her so much of Storybrooke-Regina that she feels a pit in her stomach that she can only label as homesickness.

And Emma is so caught up thinking about _her_ Regina that she doesn't notice the strange look the Evil Queen is giving her until she says, "I don't understand you most of the time."

"What do you mean?" Emma asks with a frown.

"I _mean_ why are you smiling like that?"

Emma brings a hand to her mouth self-consciously but doesn't say anything, so Regina shakes her head as though she's just about done with Emma and looks back down to her breakfast.

"Is it because I mentioned that you've kept me prisoner for six days?" Emma asks, reverting back to what they had been talking about. "Because yesterday you said that you'd looked at yourself - at your behaviour - and you hated what you saw. Do you hate that you've kept me prisoner?"

Regina doesn't look up. "Forget what I said yesterday. I wasn't thinking straight."

"I think you were. In fact, I think you were for the first time in a long time. I think you feel guilty about how you've treated people, including me-"

Regina scoffs and shakes her head. "Stop trying to make me out to be someone that I'm not, Miss Swan. You think that I feel remorse? You think that I feel guilty about the pain that I've caused? Don't be absurd."

"You can't backtrack now," Emma states, getting frustrated with the queen's denial. "Yesterday, you were honest with me about how you felt for the first time. You apologised for how you've treated me, which I think means that you feel bad about it. If that's the case, then of course you're not going to like me reminding you of what you've done to me, and it would be OK for you to be upset that I did."

"For the last time, Miss Swan, I am _not_ upset."

Emma shakes her head, clearly not believing the queen, but says, "Fine. I'll take your word for it. But, just so you know, I know how hard it can be to talk about your feelings. Yesterday, you talked about yours, even if it was just because you were in the heat of the moment and it's something that you regret, but you still did and I respect you for that. You might feel vulnerable now, but I'm not going to judge you, your majesty. In fact, I appreciated the apology and I think better of you because of it."

The Evil Queen scowls at Emma, though it doesn't have the same ferociousness as it usually does. In fact, she looks torn between yelling at Emma and hugging her. In the end, she does neither, but she puts on a neutral face and says, "You should get started." She nods towards Emma's cheese and bread. "At this rate, that cheese will be mouldy and the bread stale by the time you get around to eating them."

Emma smiles, happy that the queen's bad mood seems to be dissipating, and starts to slice some cheese for herself. Keeping Regina happy seems to be the best move for Emma, so she begins to think of what she can say that will cheer the brunette up. In the end, she settles on, "Thank you, by the way. I don't think I've said that yet. But thank you for not harming Lucas, I really appreciate it. I don't know whether you spared his life solely because of me, or if you wouldn't have killed him anyway, but he's a good guy who doesn't deserve to be hurt or killed or whatever."

"You're welcome," Regina says simply, in a way makes Emma think that she's not taking her seriously.

"Honestly, though. Thank you."

"You've said that already."

"But I don't think you're hearing it."

"I can assure you, Miss Swan, I heard you the first time."

"Then be grateful."

Regina looks up at her and lifts an eyebrow as though Emma has just been audacious. "I said 'you're welcome' didn't I?"

"Yes, but-" Emma huffs and looks down, realising how conversations with the Evil Queen are exhausting. It's like a dance where she always has to try and avoid stepping on the queen's toes. "I don't understand you, either."

"Then the feeling's mutual."

Emma nods and purses her lips. "Was it just because of me then? That you didn't harm Lucas?"

"What do you think? Guards are replaceable and I have no remorse. In being insolent, Lucas proved that he may be more trouble than he's worth, so it would be easier for me to kill him and not have to worry about him. However, seeing as you're the only reason that he was rude to me in the first place, I can't say what punishment I would have given him if you hadn't asked me to spare his life. I may have killed him, I may have just banished him, who can say? I tend to go for whichever option is most convenient for me. But I..." Regina hesitates, as though trying to decide whether or not to continue. In the end, she decides to. "I admire how much you care about people. You're a good person, much better than I am, and I don't think it could hurt to take a leaf out of your book."

Emma feels a warmth inside her at getting something so close to praise from the Evil Queen. "Stop it," she says in an 'aw shucks' kind of way.

Regina smiles and busies herself with eating her breakfast, looking almost embarrassed that she'd complimented Emma Swan.

Emma is about to attempt to ease her discomfort by telling her how good the cheese is when a knock on the door causes both women to turn their attention to it. Emma glances at Regina and sees the brunette frowning slightly, as though she's trying to remember if she's expecting company. The door opens before Regina can give the person permission to enter, so Emma turns back towards the to see who it is.

Graham steps into the room, whistling to himself and so preoccupied in his own little world that he doesn't notice Emma until he's turned around after closing the door.

"It's you," he finally says dumbly.

"Yeah... it's me."

"You're here."

"Yep."

Graham's eyes are so focused on Emma that he doesn't seem to notice the way that Regina is looking between the two of them with a look of disbelief. She's obviously trying to gauge their relationship and, while Emma doesn't know what conclusion the queen reaches, she's clearly not happy about it. Her face becomes impassive, though it's much too forced to be genuine and, more than likely, is hiding anger. "You two know each other?" she asks, trying to sound upbeat but falling short.

"We met the other day," Emma explains. "When I was helping outside."

"Right. Before your attempt at a great escape?" Regina asks, disapproval lacing her voice.

Emma just nods, and Graham looks between the women awkwardly. "I'm sorry for interrupting," he says. "But don't we have an appointment, your majesty?" He raises his eyebrows pointedly at the queen, as though there was hidden meaning in his words. "Or is..." He looks back at Emma with a small frown. "I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name."

"Emma. Emma Swan."

"Emma," Graham echoes. "Lovely name. It suits you." The way that the queen tenses doesn't go unnoticed by Emma, though it seems to by Graham. "Is Emma to be joining us?"

 _Joining them for what?_ Emma thinks, but whatever Graham had suggested does not sit well with the queen. She looks outraged. "Absolutely not! Don't make such absurd suggestions! Miss Swan will _not_ be joining us, today, or any other day for that matter. You and Miss Swan have no business together. Understood?"

"Yes. My apologies, your majesty."

"And next time, Huntsman, wait to be invited into a room before you enter. Can't you see that I have company? Clearly our 'appointment' is no longer taking place."

Graham looks guilty and uncomfortable. "Again, my apologies, your majesty. I just thought..." He looks at Emma and trails off. "Never mind. Shall we reschedule?"

"No," Regina says simply, then hesitates and adds. "I'll call for you. Now, leave us."

Graham nods, looks to Emma, offers her a small smile, then backs out of the room, closing the door behind him. The queen turns back to the table and casually sips her drink, but Emma is curious about what just happened.

Appointment? Would Emma be joining? Joining what?

One minute she has no idea what Graham could have been referring to, but out of nowhere a thought comes to her which she knows without a shadow of a doubt is true.

Regina and Graham had a strange relationship in Storybrooke, maybe it had originated here in the Enchanted Forest. Didn't the story book say that the Evil Queen had Graham's heart? She could control him, make him do whatever she wants. What if what she wants is someone to fulfil her sexual needs?

Emma remembers the other day, when she'd seen the back of a topless man in the Queen's bedchambers. At the time, she hadn't known who it was, but now it seems so obvious. It was Graham, of course. And the 'appointment' that he had been referring to just now was sex! And he had asked if Emma would be joining? As in a threesome? Emma shudders at the thought. And, by the queen's reaction to it, she had too.

The thought of Regina and Graham - of the Queen and the Huntsman- fills Emma with a feeling that she can't quite pinpoint. All she knows is that she doesn't like it, and anger seeps into her veins the longer she thinks about it.

So, as often happens when she's annoyed, her mouth moves before her brain has approved the words, and she ends up blurting out: "So, _that's_ your fuck buddy?"

Lacking all of the grace of a queen, Regina chokes on her drink and sputters into her cup. "Miss Swan!" she says, her voice shaky from coughing but still managing to convey her feelings about Emma's question.

"What? Is that not his official title?" Emma asks innocently. "Do you prefer manwhore? Sex friend? Fucquaintance?"

"It is _not_ acceptable for you to speak to me that way."

"Oh, please. You can't act all high and mighty when I was almost just dragged into a threesome with you and your gigolo!"

The queen clenches her jaw and shakes her head. "It isn't like that."

"Then what is it like?" Emma asks. "Please, enlighten me."

Regina looks away from Emma, finds a spot on the wall and focuses all of her attention on that. "Fine. It's meaningless sex. But a woman has needs and I never hear him complain." Emma shakes her head in disapproval and the queen's eyes snap back to her. "You don't get to judge me. You have no idea what it's like to be the Evil Queen."

"You can't use that as your excuse for everything."

"I can when it's true. I am the Evil Queen, which means that I have no one. I am alone, completely alone, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life this way."

"And no one would expect you to, but why does that mean that you have to have meaningless sex with your huntsman? Why can't you find someone to love and love you back?"

Regina scoffs. "You say that like it's easy."

"Isn't it?"

Regina tilts her head to the side incredulously. "Miss Swan, no one wants to be with the Evil Queen. Look at me," She signals to herself. "I cause pain and misery on a daily basis. People fear me. They're scared that I'll hurt them, that I'll rip their hearts out, and even if I don't hurt them they can't handle the pain that I cause other people. I can't court someone like a regular person. People want to stay as far away from me as possible, and the only way that I can get them to stay is to make them."

"It doesn't have to be that way," Emma insists, trying not to show pity, which she knows the queen won't appreciate, even though her heart is aching for Regina.

"But it does," Regina says as though it's a sad inevitability.

"If you want to be able to love like a normal person then you have to act like a normal person. I'm not saying that you should change who you are, but this," Emma indicates to the whole room, the queen included. "Isn't you. Not completely. There's a normal, good person in there somewhere, under all of your anger and bitterness and pain. If you accessed her, if you approached someone like a regular person, if you didn't control them, if you were just yourself and said 'hey, would you like to date me, or court me, or whatever you do here,'" Emma waves her hand dismissively. "Then they'd probably say yes."

Regina looks at her closely for a moment before saying. "Alright. Would you?"

"Would I what?"

"Would you like to 'date me, or court me, or whatever'?" Regina imitates, trying to act nonchalant.

Emma is about to laugh, interpreting the question as a joke, but then she sees the nervous vulnerability in the queen's eyes. The brunette is trying to hide it, but Emma knows this woman so well that she can see it as clear as day. The Evil Queen is asking her on a date.

And Emma is so shocked and confused that all she can do is stare at the other woman. Ever since she showed up in the Enchanted Forest six days ago, Emma hasn't known what the Evil Queen was thinking or feeling. The queen has been horrible to her one minute, flirtatious with her the next, and Emma hasn't known what has been going on.

And this question feels like another curveball because Emma can't help but wonder why on earth the queen would want to date her, which then makes her wonder if she's joking. But she seems so genuine that it can't possibly be a joke. But it also can't _not_ be.

Emma is so confused.

But the Evil Queen takes her silence as an answer to her question; that answer being no. She becomes stolid, sitting up straighter and swallowing hard. "Exactly," She says with a nod. "That's what I thought." She looks heartbroken, but still Emma can't do anything more than stare. "Breakfast is over," the queen finally announces, looking anywhere but at Emma. "You can go."

Emma doesn't move.

The queen glances at her and clears her throat, saying louder, "You can go." Still, Emma stays put. "Miss Swan, please get out of my bedchambers. I don't want to be around you right now."

Emma finally finds her voice. "But-"

"Go. Now."

"I don't think-"

"Go!"

Regina shouts, making Emma jump. The brunette sighs and looks away, as though Emma simply doesn't exist anymore. She's desperate for a distraction, so she picks up her knife and starts slicing pieces of cheese for her bread with so much force that, every time the knife hits the wooden plate, the sound is almost deafening in the silent room. Each noise makes Emma flinch and she half expects the plate to break in half, though it somehow doesn't.

After a few seconds, Emma stands up, mostly because she still can't think of anything to say. She doesn't want to leave, but she feels as though she can't stay. She inches towards the door slowly, not knowing where she is meant to go but not daring to ask the queen.

It's as she reaches for the door handle that Emma hears the queen hiss and drop the knife. She spins around and sees the queen grabbing one of her own hands with the other, her face contorted in pain.

"Have you hurt yourself?" Emma asks in concern.

The queen stands up, still clutching her hand, and turns her back to Emma. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Emma says, walking towards the brunette. "Let me see."

As she reaches Regina's side, she can see the brunette's hands. She can't see the wound because Regina is covering it, but she can see the blood running down her hand. She reaches out and urges Regina to show her the cut, which she reluctantly does. Emma holds the wrist of Regina's injured hand and inspects the area on her index finger where the knife blade has cut the skin deeply.

She shakes her head at Regina. "This is why you shouldn't use sharp knives so aggressively."

Regina glares and Emma but doesn't say anything.

"If you hadn't put this on me," Emma lifts her wrist to show the queen the magic-suppressing cuff. "I could heal you."

"I can heal myself," Regina says through gritted teeth. As though to prove her point, she waves her healthy hand over the wound and, after a glow of purple magic radiates from it, the injury is healed. "Now you can go," Regina says again. "You don't care about me and that's fine, but I don't want to be around you anymore."

Emma shakes her head, still holding Regina's wrist. "No. You didn't give me chance to explain myself. You took my silence as an answer when I didn't actually give you an answer."

"You didn't need to."

"You shocked me," Emma ignores the brunette's words. "You can't just suddenly ask me out and expect me not to be surprised. Even you have to admit that this was a little out of the blue."

"You think this was out of the blue?" the queen asks doubtfully. "Do you really think I make a habit out of seeing my prisoners everyday? Of inviting them for breakfast in my chambers?"

Emma tilts her head to the side. "You mean..."

The queen takes a breath and pulls her hand away from Emma's so that she can take a few steps back. "As soon as I saw you in that throne room I... I mean, I..." She sighs, obviously unable to find the right words. Emma has never seen Regina so flustered, either as Regina or the Evil Queen, so she stays silent and waits for her to gather her bearings. "As juvenile as it sounds, I suppose you could say that I had a crush on you. You're just the most beautiful woman that I've ever seen, and I didn't know how to handle it. I'm not very experienced when it comes to courting people."

"So, you've had a crush on me this whole time?" Emma asks, feeling slightly skeptical. Her time in the dungeon and being tortured by the queen certainly argue the opposite.

"It's pathetic, I know." The queens looks down, embarrassed. "As I said before, people don't stay with me unless I make them. So, I made you a prisoner so that you had no choice but to stay. All it took was for me to get angry once and I lashed out, locked you in the dungeon, and I was on a downward spiral. I kept on treating you worse and worse until you hated me, and now... here we are."

"I don't hate you," Is what Emma says first. And then, "And I had no idea that you felt that way about me. You've sent me pretty mixed signals, but mostly that you can't stand me. You've treated me terribly, so no, I don't want to date you."

The queen clenches her jaw and Emma can tell that she's about to shout or lash out again, so she steps forward and takes her hand. "Only because you've given me no reason to, though. You've only shown me the Evil Queen. Show me _you_. Show me Regina. Then ask me again and we'll see what the answer is."

Emma can't believe that she's said the words because she's literally admitting that she would want to date Regina, _her_ Regina, _Storybrooke_ Regina, and that's so confusing because Regina is her best friend and she has _Killian_.

But then the Evil Queen smiles at her, shy and nervous but happy that Emma's 'no' isn't a definitive 'no', and she looks so adorable that all of the thoughts about how weird this whole situation is leave Emma's mind.

The queen squeezes Emma's hand. "I don't even remember who Regina is," she admits.

"I'll help you find out."

* * *

 **A/N: I'm back for good, I promise! No more ridiculously long waits for chapters. I'm here to stay.**

 **Are people still out there?**

 **I haven't updated since the news of Jennifer Morrison leaving but I just wanted to say that I'm still going to write for this fandom and this ship because these characters are too good to abandon. SwanQueen is the greatest love story of all time, even if the writers didn't fulfil its potential. We can all still enjoy it. I hope you feel the same.**

 **See you next time.**


	11. Chapter 11

When Snow and David get to the entrance of Rumpelstiltskin's castle, David is the one who lifts the huge metal knocker and hammers it three times against the door. His heart is pounding in his chest, and he knows that Snow is in the same nervous state as he is because she pulls him closer so that their bodies are touching, as though trying to find strength in him.

Neither of them have particularly fond memories of Rumple. He's devious and manipulative and will do anything for his own gain. To make matters worse, this meeting with the Dark One could have particularly dire consequences.

Talking to Rumplestiltskin in the past could massively alter the future timeline, and that obviously isn't ideal. On top of that, Rumple could refuse to help them, in which case, they would be stuck in the past, knowing there's a big chance that they've affected the future but with no way of knowing whether it's for the better or worse.

Yes, this plan is risky and there is certainly a lot on the line.

But David tries to be strong, if not for himself, then for Mary Margaret, and especially for Emma. His daughter is trapped in the Evil Queen's castle and he needs to get her out, which he won't be able to do if he becomes a nervous wreck. No, he needs to be strong and level-headed. That would give them all the best chance of survival.

Despite him willing himself on, David still falters slightly when the door to the castle opens. He takes a deep breath and reaches for Mary Margaret's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze, but he's pretty sure that he gains as much reassurance from it as she does. It doesn't help that the door opens excruciatingly slowly, creaking loudly as it moves and adding to the suspense in the air. Finally, when the door is open a head's width, Rumple's face appears with a devious smile.

"Well, well, well," the Dark One drawls, looking David and Snow up and down. "What do we have here?"

"We need your help," David says authoritatively, head held high.

"You certainly cut to the chase, don't you, dearie? No, ' _hi, Rumple, how are you_?'" he tsks, but opens the door widely and moves to the side. "You better come in. We can skip the formalities and get straight to business, if you wish."

David enters first, never letting go of Snow's hand as they walk into the castle, through the main hall and into the large room where Rumple keeps his spinning wheel. The Dark One follows close behind them after shutting the castle door and encourages them to take a seat at the table. He sits across from them, resting his elbows on the chair arms and joining his hands in a steeple shape.

But all he does is look at them both analytically, making them shift in their seats. After just under a minute, Snow swallows, clears her throat and opens her mouth to speak, however, before any words can come out, Rumple raises a hand to stop her and she instantly falls silent and slouches in her seat. David puts a hand on her knee to calm her until Rumple finally decides it's time they talk.

"Now," Rumple says in a 'let's get down to business voice'. "You _look_ like Snow White and Prince Charming, and you _sound_ like Snow White and Prince Charming... so why do I get the feeling that you're not Snow White and Prince Charming?" He finishes in a rushed voice.

"We are," Snow insists. "But we're..." She looks to David, asking for permission to continue. After he gives her a nod, she says, "We're from the future."

"The future?" Rumple repeats, sounding skeptical. But then his lips spread into a smile and he lets out his infamous giggle. "The future. How delightful." He stands up so that he can stroll back and forth in front of them. "And what, exactly, do the Snow White and Prince Charming of the future want from the lowly Rumplestiltskin of the past?" He gives a little bow as he says 'lowly Rumplestiltskin', but ends with another giggle.

"We're here for a pocket watch," David informs.

Rumple's smile drops a little. "A pocket watch? Do I look like a trader of trinkets to you?"

David smirks as he thinks of Mr. Gold's pawn shop and all the trinkets it's filled with. "It's the pocket watch that sent us here - to the past - in the first place. We were sent here by accident and we want to go back to the future before we do anything to mess up the timeline, but we need the pocket watch to do that and, well, we don't have it. It must not have come to the past with us."

"Ah, so it's a _magical_ pocket watch. You should have said that in the first place. Now it sounds more like my area of expertise." Rumple stops his pacing and faces the couple. "But I don't have your pocket watch." Both David and Mary Margaret sag in disappointment, their hope of returning home starting to dissipate. That is, until Rumple adds, "But I may happen to know where you can find such an item."

"Really? Where?" David asks, sitting up straighter again.

"A little birdie has told me that there is a timepiece in existence which sounds like the one that you are referring to. It has the power to transcend realms, though it's main purpose is to travel through time. If you want to get to the past, to the future, it can get you there. As for where is can be found," Rumple holds out his hand and a roll of paper magically appears in it. It's old and discoloured and tied with a little red ribbon. "This map should lead you directly to it. 'X' marks the spot." He holds the paper out towards David, but as soon as the other man reaches for it, he moves it out of his reach. "First, there's a deal to be made. You can have this map under the condition that, once you find the timepiece, you bring it here to me. As you said, the pocket watch itself does not travel in time, only the person activating it. After you have used it to get back to wherever you've come from, I want it to be mine."

David glances at Snow. "Alright. Deal."

Rumple giggles and gives David the map. "Is that all? I'll show you to the door and you can be on your merry way."

"Wait!" Snow stands up. "There's one more thing. We need a forgetting potion."

Rumple frowns at her quizically. "And why would you need one of those."

"Because we didn't come alone, but the person that we came with has been captured. It's imperative that the person who has captured her doesn't remember meeting her here in the past, so we need the forgetting potion to make them forget."

Rumple narrows his eyes. "Well, I can't have you messing up the future timeline, can I?" He says as he makes his way over to a table set up with different bottles containing many colourful fluids. "But," He spins on his heels dramatically. "What's in this for me?"

David sighs. "We have nothing to give you."

"That's not entirely true, is it, dearie? You have knowledge of the future."

David glances at Mary Margaret. "True, but I'm not sure that telling you about it would be a good idea. It may affect the-"

"Let me stop you there. I have no intention of changing the future. I know how dangerous that can be and it's a risk even I am not willing to take. But I have the means to make myself forget whatever you tell me," Rumple signals to the many potion bottles. "So you needn't worry about me."

"Then why do you want to know?"

"Simple curiosity. So, what has happened to me in this future of yours?"

Snow smiles as she says, "You find your son. You find Baelfire."

Rumple's smile drops into a look of shock. "I find my boy?"

"Yes. And you even have another son called Gideon." Rumple looks as though he may cry, so he turns around to hide it. "With Belle." Snow adds, knowing how much the Dark One loves her. She doesn't mention the pain that Rumple has gone through, not wanting to risk him trying to change the course of events, but the things that she does tell him seem to leave him satisfied.

Rumple takes a steadying breath and begins to pick up some bottles, combining liquids and other ingredients into a smaller bottle until the potion is completed. Then, he puts a small cork in the top and gives it to Snow.

"That's one deal complete. Now, if I find out that you've gone back to the future without bringing me the timepiece, your past selves will pay for your mistake. Do you understand, dearie?" Snow swallows and nods her head, stepping back towards David. "Good. Now, off you go. I expect to see you soon with that pocket watch in hand."

While Snow and David leave, they can hear Rumple's giggles until the door to the castle shuts behind them. Once they're back in the fresh air, both David and Snow relax, only realising how tense their muscles have been when they let all the tension go.

"That was easier than I imagined," Mary Margaret admits, beginning the walk back towards the forest, where they'd left Killian.

"Don't speak so soon," David warns, following her lead. "We still have to find the pocket watch."

* * *

When Mary Margaret and David get back to the forest, Killian is exactly where they left him. He's lying in the sun on the grass where the trees end, eyes closed and using his leather jacket as a pillow. He doesn't seem to notice Mary Margaret and David approach until David blocks the sunlight from hitting his face, then Killian flinches and snaps his eyes open.

"Woah. You scared me, mate."

"Yeah, sorry for disturbing your nap," David says sarcastically, slightly bitter. While he and Mary Margaret had been risking their lives speaking to the Dark One, Killian has been relaxing in the sun.

"You know as well as I do that I couldn't exactly go walking into the crocodile's den," Killian reminds him with an eye roll. He stands up and brushes dead grass from his clothes. "Anyway, did you get the pocket watch?"

"No. But we got this." David holds up the rolled-up map for Killian to take.

The pirate accepts it and unravels it, seeing a section of the Enchanted Forest sketched onto the old, slightly torn paper. Some features have been labelled, such as caves and mountains and a couple of kingdoms, and to the south west of the map, a red 'X' has been scribbled onto it. "'X' marks the spot," Killian says, rolling the map back up and giving it to David. "That's where the pocket watch is?"

"According to Rumplestiltskin, yes."

"And we got this as well," Snow holds up the vial that Rumple had given her. "A forgetting potion to give to the queen so that she'll forget Emma."

"Brilliant," Killian says, taking it and inspecting it, then giving it back to Mary Margaret.

"We should make tracks," David says, looking up at the sky to check the sun's position. "We need to find the pocket watch as quickly as possible so that we can save Emma, and we'll make more progress if we're travelling in daylight. Here, you take the map," David tries to hand the paper back to Killian. "As a pirate, I'd imagine you've been spent your whole life preparing for this."

"About that," Killian steps back, refusing to accept the map. "Maybe you two should go alone. Emma was taken by the queen's guards almost a week ago and, the longer she's there, the more likely it is that something will happen to her. We need to get to her ASAP, and I don't feel comfortable wasting another few days tracking down this pocket watch."

"Then what do you suggest?" Mary Margaret asks.

"You two go looking for the pocket watch," Killian explains. "And I'll go to the Evil Queen's castle and try to save Emma. It's not like either of you can see Regina anyway, she'll rip both of your hearts out as soon as she sets eyes on you. So, I'll go now, and I'll take the forgetting potion with me. The sooner we get to Emma, the better, and I think I have the best chance of getting her out of there alive. We can all meet back here in a few days. I'll bring Emma, you bring the pocket watch, then we can go back to Storybrooke."

"Are you sure that splitting up is a good idea?" Mary Margaret asks nervously.

"It's the best chance we have," Killian says.

"Alright." David nods his head. "That's what we'll do then, and we'll meet back here as soon as we can." He holds his hand out towards Killian. "Good luck."

"You too, mate."

The pair shake hands, then Killian nods to Mary Margaret and takes the forgetting potion before beginning his journey back towards the Evil Queen's castle. Mary Margaret and David watch him go, then look at the map to decide which direction they should take.

* * *

Emma leaves the Evil Queen's bedchambers a much freer woman. She's by no means a _free_ woman, but the queen has loosened the reigns in an attempt to show Emma that she's trying to change, trying to be _Regina,_ just for her.

She's still a prisoner; still not allowed to leave the castle grounds without permission. She has to have a guard with her at all times (or guarding the door to the room that she's in so she can't escape), and she has to wear the magic-suppressing cuff. However, she doesn't have to stay in the dungeon anymore. The queen has given Emma the bedroom that she'd awoken in after her nightmare as her permanent room. She's also said that Emma is free to explore the castle if she likes, can request things from the kitchen, and Mrs Potts is now her personal handmaid.

So, when the Evil Queen says that she has a meeting with the king of a neighbouring kingdom and must leave, the first thing Emma does is ask Mrs Potts to draw her a bath. The older woman does so happily, bringing Emma some clean clothes and braiding her hair without even being asked.

Then, Emma goes down the the kitchen. She hadn't been able to eat much of her breakfast thanks to her conversation with the queen, so she asks for some oatmeal, which the cook whips up in no time.

But, even though the queen has given her permission to use Mrs Potts and the kitchen and walk around the castle on her own (with a guard), Emma feels uncomfortable. She's worried that she'll push her luck, go into forbidden territory, or that the queen will change her mind and punish her. So, she takes her oatmeal to her room and spends the afternoon there.

There's nothing to do in there so, while she is alone with her thoughts, she thinks over every interaction that she has ever had with the queen, analysing them from a new angle; an angle where the queen has a crush on her and handles it in the worst way possible.

Some things make sense, Emma supposes. Like the fact that she hadn't been taken to the dungeon on her first night, but had been given a (simple) room. It was clear from that that she wasn't just an ordinary prisoner. Then there was the fact that, the next day, the queen had requested her presence for breakfast in her bedchambers, had made Emma undress for her (seriously, though, who does that?), and had tried to kiss Emma. Yes, in the beginning, perhaps Emma had had her suspicions that the queen was attracted to her.

But things had changed so quickly, and it's true what Regina said earlier: all it took was for the queen to get angry once and suddenly she was on a downward spiral. The things that she did to Emma had got worse and worse until eventually she was whipping her and the idea that the queen was attracted to her was the last thing on Emma's mind.

But then Regina had been so guilty about what she'd done. It was clear that she hadn't wanted to whip Emma the second time, that she was only doing it because she was the Evil Queen and it was what she was supposed to do. It was clear that Emma calling her evil had bothered her, maybe because she thought highly of Emma because of her crush on her and didn't want the blonde to hate her. Then she had brought Emma out of the dungeon when she was having a nightmare and put her in a comfortable bed, an unnecessary act of kindness.

Emma suspects that the Evil Queen has been cruel and short-tempered for so long that she doesn't know how to turn it off anymore, even when she wants to.

It kind of makes sense, and just highlights how messed up the Evil Queen is. Her past has broken her, has made her unable to act like a normal human being. She wants to control people so that they can't hurt her, which just ends up pushing them away.

It saddens Emma to think about.

Yet she thinks about it until the early evening, only being disturbed by a guard bringing her some chicken and vegetables for dinner. The queen hadn't said when she would next see Emma, or what Emma was supposed to do with herself in the mean time, and it's only as Emma watches the sun setting that she realises that her life has revolved around the Evil Queen for the past six days. She has nothing else to do or concern herself with other than whatever the queen wants, and if the queen wants nothing, then Emma _does_ nothing.

This isn't how she wants to live, even if her life as a prisoner is improving, and she begins to wonder how on earth she's going to get out of this place.

Though she doesn't have much time to ponder because, as soon as her thoughts turn to how she's going to escape, the door swings open - magic, Emma knows - and the Evil Queen strides in, regal as ever. She's wearing one of her more casual dresses and her hair is mostly down, with only the top layer clipped up. Emma prefers her this way: relaxed and unimposing. She looks less _Evil Queen_ and more _Regina._

"Miss Swan," the queen says in greeting. "I apologise that my meeting took so long. King What's-His-Face can be extremely chatty."

"That's OK," Emma shrugs. "I wasn't expecting to see you again today, so it's not like I was waiting for you or anything."

"Yes, well, _I_ wasn't intending to see _you_ again today either," the queen wanders over to the window and and looks outside. "Yet here I am." She gazes at the surroundings below, and then, out of nowhere, "Has anyone ever told you how infuriating you are?"

The question takes Emma by surprise and her eyebrows shoot up as a result. "I- Well-" She frowns at the back of the queen's head. "Have I done something?"

"Nothing in particular," the queen replies, making Emma's eyes narrow. "I just find it incredibly frustrating that you..." The queen turns to face her again. "You have this _thing_ about you. It's irritating."

Emma's not sure why the queen has visited her just to insult her, especially because just this morning she had been asking Emma out, so the blonde feels herself getting a little defensive. "Listen, your majesty, nobody's forcing you to be here right now. If you find me so annoying, then..." she looks towards the door pointedly, but this just makes the queen sigh.

"It wouldn't make a difference even if I did leave. You see, I could walk out of that door right now, but you'd still be in here." She taps the side of her head gently. "I can't get you out of my head."

"Oh." Emma isn't sure whether the queen means this in a good way or a bad way because, while she'd normally take it as a compliment, the queen is looking at her as though she's disappointed in her.

"I've been having a serious meeting with another monarch this afternoon. Do you understand that?"

"Of course?"

"But the whole time I was thinking about you. I was wondering what you were doing, how you were feeling... whether or not you were thinking about me." Emma's face softens at that last part and her heart does a weird little flutter, but the queen swallows and quickly moves on. "And I was thinking about what you said. I was thinking, 'how can I show Emma who _Regina_ is?' Do you know how distracting that is?"

Emma shrugs and tries to keep herself from smiling. "I think I have an idea," she admits because, honestly, she's been thinking about this woman all day so she knows how it feels. "But did you figure it out? How to introduce me to Regina?"

"Maybe. I'd like to take you somewhere, if you don't mind?"

Emma smiles and lifts an eyebrow, intrigued. "Sure, but where are we-"

Before she can finish, purple smoke swirls around her and she feels her surroundings vanish. She's poofed so many times that it's a familiar feeling now but, the only problem is, Emma had been sat on a bed before she was poofed and, where the queen takes her, there is nothing beneath her to hold her up. Still surrounded by smoke, Emma drops to the ground heavily, landing on her butt and grunting in pain.

When the smoke dissipates, she's sitting on a stone floor with the queen looking down at her, stunned. It clearly hadn't been her intention to take the seat from under Emma, it must have slipped her mind that the blonde was sitting down and wouldn't be able to stay upright after being transported, but she seems just as surprised as Emma is.

"Perhaps I should have warned you that I was going to do that," the queen muses.

"Perhaps," Emma agrees, struggling to her feet.

Once she's up and can see where she is, her mouth drops open. The Evil Queen has taken her to the highest turret of the castle, and they're currently standing on a balcony that goes around it in a circle. They're so high up that Emma can see far and wide in every direction - in one direction, there's the endless forest that still seems endless from up here, in another there's a river that leads to, just on the horizon, what looks like some buildings, and in another there's farmland. That's all Emma can see without walking to the other side of the turret, but for now she just turns to the Evil Queen in shock because the view is magnificent yet so unexpected.

"Why here?" Emma asks.

"You said you wanted to know Regina," the queen explains. "Well, this is my favourite place to come. I wanted to show it to you."

Emma smiles, honoured, and looks to the horizon. "Is that," She points to the buildings where the river disappears over the horizon.

The queen understands what Emma means before she can even finish her question. "The nearest village. People generally don't come closer to the castle than that. The inhabitants there warn every traveller about the Evil Queen and urge them to go a different way. That's why I was so surprised to hear that there was a trespasser on my land - that trespasser being you, of course. Most people heed their warnings."

"I wasn't warned," Emma explains. "I never saw anyone. I had no idea that I was on your land."

The queen nods her head. "That explains it then."

Emma can't stop staring at the surroundings. The Enchanted Forest is a gorgeous place but, more than that, she also knows that all the inhabitants of Storybrooke are out there somewhere, living their past lives. Ruby is out there, Granny, Archie, the dwarves, Rumple, Belle, Robin, Maleficent, Snow White and Prince Charming. All of them are out there, completely oblivious to the fact that they will soon be ripped from their lives and thrown into a small town in another world.

And somewhere, Mary Margaret, David and Killian are working to try and find Emma. Yet, it's been six days and that worries her. What's taking them so long? Have they run into trouble? Are they _dead_? With no way of knowing, Emma's heart starts hammering in her chest.

Maybe the Evil Queen senses Emma's discomfort, or maybe her timing is coincidental, but she takes Emma's hand and squeezes it. Emma looks down at their joined hands and feels her troubled thoughts leaving her head one by one until all she is thinking about is Regina's thumb grazing softly over the top of her hand. Then, Regina pulls her, guiding her around to the other side of the turret.

"This over here," She points to something on the horizon, so far away that Emma has to squint to see it properly. It looks like a castle. "Is the next kingdom. The West Kingdom. It's the last bit of land before the ocean. That's actually what my meeting was about, the reason that I had to leave you earlier. A lot of the West Kingdom's arable land flooded recently, and the king wanted to know if he could buy some of mine."

"And did you let him?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because it's mine," Regina says as if it's obvious, not seeming to realise what a childish statement that is.

"But what if people starve because they don't have enough food?"

The queen shrugs, unperturbed. "They should have thought about that before building a kingdom so close to the sea."

Emma closes her eyes at the ridiculousness of the answer, but she has to turn her lips down just to force them _not_ to turn upwards. The queen can be petty and childlike at times and, even though it shouldn't, it amuses Emma. When she opens her eyes, the queen is looking at her, but quickly looks a way as though she hadn't been.

"So, where's Rumplestiltskin's castle?" Emma asks so that she can try to map out the Enchanted Forest.

The question earns her an odd look from the queen, but she pulls Emma around the turret again and points in the exact opposite direction of the West Kingdom. "What do you know about Rumple?" Regina asks curiously.

Emma mentally berates herself. She's supposed to be from a different world; how would she know Rumplestiltskin? Despite her internal panic, she innocently lifts a shoulder. "Not a lot. He's the dark one, right? That's what I heard from... a traveller." The queen is still looking at her in a strange way, so Emma continues, even though she probably shouldn't. "I think he'd just razed a village. Rumplestiltskin, not the traveller. People looked scared and there was... smoke." Emma pulls her hand from the queen's hand, mostly because it's getting clammy from her lying and she doesn't want to repulse the queen with her sweaty palms.

The queen's frown deepens and she folds her arms across her chest. "I'm sorry, where was this?"

For the first time since arriving, Emma is thankful that she's not from the Enchanted Forest. "I have no idea. I don't know the Enchanted Forest well, remember? I'm not from here."

The queen shrugs, accepting this. "Well, I can't say I'm surprised. It sounds like something Rumple would do."

"Yeah..." Emma leans against the wall of the balcony, thankful that she didn't say anything wrong for once, but still eager to change the subject. "So, you say this is your favourite place? What do you like about it?"

The queen joins her in resting her arms on top of the balcony wall and overlooking the land. "The view. It feels like you can see everything from up here. And the peace, the tranquillity. There's no one to disturb me. It's nice to get away from everything for a while."

"I wish I had this where I'm from," Emma admits. "There's always something going on; it can feel stifling. It'd be nice to have a place to get away to."

The queen glances at her and then turns her body towards her. "Tell me about this place that you're from. You say it's a land without magic?"

Emma swallows, finding talking about Storybrooke to be dangerous territory. However, obviously the queen knew too much about Emma already and it was clear that she'd have to come up with a solution for that. So, maybe telling her about where she's from would be OK. She'd just have to fix it later.

"There's not much to say," Emma shrugs. "It's pretty similar to this place except," She looks at her surroundings and then laughs. "Completely different."

"Similar but completely different? That's not contradictory at all," the queen teases, prompting Emma to roll her eyes.

"Alright, I'll try to explain. I used to live in this city called Boston so, imagine that all this land," Emma signals to the vacant land in front of her. "Was covered in buildings, but not little cottages like what you have here. High-rise buildings, like, thirty stories high. We call them skyscrapers." Emma looks at the queen for her reaction and sees the brunette's eyebrows are raised slightly in surprise, and she's giving Emma her undivided attention. "And the roads are concrete and filled with cars, which are like horses and carts but without the horses."

"Then how do they move?" The queen asks.

Emma lifts a shoulder. "They have engines and they burn fuel... I don't know, I'm not an expert."

"So, you didn't have one?"

"Of course I have one. She's my pride and joy."

"She? Are they living?"

"No..."

The queen furrows her brow, her face a mirror of utter confusion in the most adorable way that Emma has ever seen. "So, you own one of these _cars_ but don't know how it works, and give it a gender even though it isn't a living thing?"

"Yes," Emma says with a nod, unable to stop from smiling at how baffled the queen is.

"You're either from a strange place or you're a very strange person. I haven't decided which yet."

"In my opinion, _this_ is the strange place," Emma gestures to the Enchanted Forest.

"How so?"

"You guys don't have electricity. Like, what's with that?"

"I don't know what that is," The queen admits.

"It's, like... Well, it's... it's energy. It powers things." Emma knows that her explanation is awful, and she ends up sighing and rubbing her face. "Man, I should have listened more in Physics class." She moves her hand from her face and decides to settle on, "It's basically our version of magic."

The queen lifts an eyebrow. "In that case, I'd like to see it," She looks away from Emma and adds, "Come to that, I'd like to see your whole world. Any other world, really." She looks back at Emma with a smile and says, "There, that's something for you to know about me. I'd like to visit another world."

Emma smiles and lifts a shoulder. "Maybe some day you will." Her heart speeds up with joy because she _knows_ that Regina will go to another world, so she _knows_ that one of her dreams will come true. Surely, that will bring her some happiness in her otherwise miserable life as the Evil Queen.

"Maybe," the queen agrees thoughtfully.

Emma clears her throat and awkwardly says, "Why don't you tell me more about you? About Regina? You haven't always been the Evil Queen, so maybe you could tell me about your past?"

Regina's jaw sets as she looks to the horizon and shakes her head. "I don't like talking about my past."

"I get it," Emma nods, finding that feeling relatable. Then an idea hits her, "How about I tell you about mine, and then you tell me about yours? Do you remember how after my nightmare I told you that I used to have nightmares a lot? I didn't tell you why because I don't like talking about it, but maybe if I tell you then you can share something about yourself with me?"

"A 'who has the most depressing history' competition? No thanks," The queen dismisses the idea and takes a few steps away from Emma to look at a different direction.

"That's not what it is," Emma says. "It's sharing information about ourselves, even if it's painful. That's how some people form a bond."

"Fine," the queen turns back to Emma and folds her arms across her chest. "Go on. Tell me about your past," She says it as though she'd been forced into it, though Emma can see a hint of curiosity lingering beneath the surface and knows that the queen wants to hear.

"I didn't have parents growing up," Emma begins. "They didn't want me, so they abandoned me on the side of a road as a baby... at least, that's what I thought at the time. Anyway, I was found wrapped in this blanket with the name 'Emma' stitched onto it, but that's all anyone knew about me. So, I ended up in the foster system, which is where kids with no parents go in my world to be looked after."

"Like an orphanage?" The queen asks.

"I guess," Emma confirms. "But there are foster families who take you in, and they get money to look after you. Sometimes there are a lot of other kids though, and sometimes the foster parents only take you in so that they get a cheque that they spend on other things, like alcohol. I had a few of those," Emma says with a dry laugh. "Some families do make the effort to look after foster children, but some don't care about them at all. The hope is that a child will be adopted someday, which is where a kid gets given a permanent home with a family who loves them. But the older you get, the less likely that is to happen. That never happened to me. I got stuck in so many homes with foster families who just saw me as a burden. Some of them used to beat the kids if they did anything bad, and I was what they call a 'problem child'. I was bad a lot.

"So, I was no stranger to getting hit. I wasn't physically beaten in _that_ many houses, maybe about three, but the first time it happened I was really young, and the dad who did it terrified me. I used to have nightmares and flashbacks about him. He appeared in my dreams until I was, like, seventeen. But he wasn't the one I was having a nightmare about the other night, when the guard found me."

Emma looks down, which results in the queen asking, "Then who was it about?"

"Her name was Marisa. She was one of my foster mothers. She only hurt me once, when I was nine, but then I ran away from that foster home. What she did was so bad because, up until that moment, I'd trusted her. They're the worst. Some foster parents are mean from day one, so you know to avoid them and try to stay out of their way, but some seem nice until suddenly... they're not."

Emma doesn't want to say that she thinks she'd had that particular nightmare after Regina whipped her because what happened with Regina had paralleled with with what happened with Marisa. She had trusted Marisa, thought that she was nice and loving, but then she's been hurt by her. She also trusted Regina, because they were best friends in Storybrooke, but she had been hurt by her too. As the Evil Queen, but still.

So, she doesn't mention that, and Regina doesn't ask. The queen just nods her head slowly, looking to the side in thought. "I'm so sorry that you had to grow up that way," She says eventually. "Living in fear. No one deserves that."

Emma knows that they queen lived in fear, too, because of Cora and how cruel she could be. But Regina doesn't mention that. It's as though she doesn't want her story to compete with Emma's; doesn't want it to be _'you think_ you _had it bad, wait till you hear what_ my _mother did to_ me'. At least, that's how Emma interprets it when Regina announces, "I guess it's my turn. How about I tell you how my plan for revenge led me here?"

Emma nods her head and waits for Regina to tell her why she hates her mother so much.

"I'll keep it brief," The queen says, leaning her back against the wall and looking off to the side. "My mother wanted me to marry a king, but I fell in love with the stable boy. His name was Daniel, and you can imagine how disappointed my mother would have been if I told her that I wanted to marry him, seeing as she wanted me to marry _up_ not _down_. So, I never told her. Then, one day, a girl called Snow White - you might know of her, her Wanted posters are all over the kingdom - was on a spooked horse, scared for her life. My young, naive self saved her. What I didn't know was that she was the daughter of King Leopold, and there came the chance for all my mother's dreams to come true. My mother set it up that I would marry the king, not knowing that I loved Daniel.

"I didn't love the king, so I planned to run away with Daniel, but Snow White saw us together. I made her promise not to tell my mother, because I knew how she would react, and I trusted little Snow White," At that moment, the queen's face turns hard. "That girl doesn't know how to keep a secret, though, and she went trotting off to my mother. She told Cora about Daniel, and my mother hated the thought of me marrying the stable hand. So, she ripped his heart out and crushed it right in front of me. She crushed the heart of my True Love because that _stupid_ little girl didn't know how to keep her mouth shut.

"I've lived a life of misery because of her," Regina says, shaking her head. "And she will pay. I will destroy her happiness if it's the last thing I do, just you wait and see."

Emma can see the pain and anger in the queen's face, and it scares her a little. She swallows uncomfortably, wondering why she had ever wanted to hear the story in the first place. She knew it already, and knew how it ends, but a part of her had wanted to hear it from the Evil Queen's point of view.

The queen looks back to her and seems to break out of a trance. She stands up straighter and folds her arms across her chest. "So, there you have it. That's how I became evil."

"You're not evil," Emma says quietly, partly because it's true and partly because she knows the queen hates to think of herself that way. "You're just angry. Understandably so, given what happened to your True Love as a result."

"So you don't disapprove of my plan for revenge?"

"I'm saying that I understand why you want vengeance, not that I approve of the way you go about it, and not that I think you _should_ try to get it. You know what they say, 'while seeking revenge, dig two graves.'"

The queen smirks, "Oh, don't worry, I will. One for Snow White, and one for her precious Prince Charming."

Emma swallows again and looks away. "Maybe this was a mistake."

The queen lifts an eyebrow. "Oh? You don't like getting to know me after all?"

"The only thing I'm 'getting to know' here is why you're the Evil Queen, and while you're telling me, I see her rising to the surface and I don't like her. So, maybe you can keep your feud with Snow White as far away from me as possible."

The Evil Queen shakes her head but doesn't say anything. In the end, she wanders away to the other side of the turret where Emma can't see her.

Emma doesn't follow.

* * *

Emma had been upset. Upset at hearing the queen get so angry; upset because it was her parents that the queen hated so much; upset because Regina had come so far and forgiven Snow and David, but the Evil Queen at this point in time was still at the peak of her hatred for them.

Emma had just been upset.

But after a while, she starts to cool down a little, mostly because she's distracted by the sunset, which looks beautiful from the top of the turret. As the sun is disappearing over the horizon, Emma remembers that this is Regina's favourite place, and she can completely understand why it is. It's stunning. Yet Regina missed it because she's still facing the other direction.

Emma turns and makes her way around the turret until she can see Regina, who is leaning on the waist-high wall and overlooking the farmland ahead.

"Thank you for bringing me here," Emma says quietly. The queen doesn't turn to face her, but she turns her head so that she can see Emma in the corner of her eye, a sign that she had heard and is listening. "I think that was the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen. Sunsets seem a lot better here than they do in my world, for some reason." The queen still doesn't say anything, so Emma takes a few steps closer. "I'd love to come here again sometime, if you'd let me?"

"Alone?"

"What?"

"Do you want to come on your own? Without me? To enjoy the view?"

Emma frowns. "Well, I meant _with_ you, but if you don't want to..."

The queen looks down, over the edge of the turret. "Our attempt at bonding didn't go very well, did it? I just assumed that you wouldn't want to spend time with me anymore."

"It was stupid of me to ask you to share details of your past, especially how you became the Evil Queen," Emma admits. "I mean, the Evil Queen is the person that I wanted to get away from, and I ended up doing the exact opposite. Before we got to talking about that, I was having a nice time. We were bonding, weren't we? And it was going well. At least, _I_ thought it was."

"I did too," the queen says quietly.

"So, we'll come here again at some point?"

"If you're that desperate," the queen says, feigning irritation.

Emma smiles, but the queen can't even see it seeing because she's still not turned around. So, Emma sighs, and says what she had been thinking while watching the sunset. "You remember this morning, when you said that you thought I was the most beautiful woman you'd ever seen?" The queen nods her head. "Well, I feel the same way about you."

This finally gets the queen's attention. She turns around and looks at Emma as though she's surprised. As if that could be possibly be surprising with how gorgeous Regina is.

"The first time I saw you," Emma thinks back to their first meeting in Storybrooke, even though the Evil Queen doesn't know that that happens yet. "You pretty much made me speechless. And then every time I've seen you since, you just... you never fail to amaze. I didn't even know it was possible for someone to be so attractive until I saw you." The queen looks down with a shy smile, and Emma takes the last few steps towards her with a smile of her own. "I'm being serious. Which isn't even fair because you're also super smart. Like, who has brains _and_ beauty? That's not fair."

"You do," Regina says, sounding confused.

"I thought you thought I was an idiot."

"Well, I do," Regina acknowledges with a small laugh. "But that's beside the point."

"Actually, it's dead on the point," Emma informs her. "God, and you say _I'm_ the idiot."

The queen lifts an eyebrow at her as if to say 'excuse me?', but it's completely jokey. "Thank you, by the way," the queen says next. "What you said was very sweet."

"It's no problem. I was just telling the truth. You're stunning. Especially when you look like this," Emma waves her hand up and down the length of the queen's body. "I like it when your hair's down, and I like these casual dresses. Those ones with the high collars with all the jewels scare me a little."

The queen chuckles. "I'll keep that in mind." She ends up smiling again, then she looks down at Emma's lips. For a second, Emma swears that the queen is about to lean in and kiss her, but then she looks away. "Anyway, it's getting late. And cold. I'll take you back to your bedchambers."

Emma swallows her disappointment and nods. Even though she knows how poofing works, and knows that she doesn't need to be touching Regina to be transported (she hadn't even been when she was brought to the turret), she holds her hand out for the queen to take. Regina looks at it, then at Emma's face, and her lips twitch upwards while she takes it.

The queen squeezes Emma's hand, looking at her with so much fondness and tenderness that it takes Emma by surprise. But then Emma's vision is blocked by a puff of purple smoke as they are poofed back to Emma's room.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for the lovely reviews after the last chapter. I'm glad people are happy with the progress the ladies are making.**

 **This chapter ended up being different than I'd planned, but I just went with it. I hope you enjoyed it anyway.**

 **See you soon :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Emma wakes on her seventh day in the castle to the sunlight streaming through the window and onto her face. She squints at the brightness and rolls over, absently thinking that, if the sun is so high in the sky already, it must be late in the morning. Maybe 10 or 11 o'clock, something like that.

It's not unusual for her to wake up at this time in Storybrooke, but things are different in the Enchanted Forest. People wake up at the break of dawn, and Emma has been getting up earlier herself, usually because she has been awoken by guards. She's only slept so late today because she hasn't been disturbed, which means that, for whatever reason, the queen hasn't wanted to see her. She doesn't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, but the pair had ended things last night on good terms so she doesn't worry.

Instead, she pulls herself out of bed, puts on her clothes from yesterday, and decides that she'll make the most of her quiet morning. Since her newly granted freedom allows her to explore, she opens the door to her chambers and steps into the hall outside. There's a guard there of course, but he doesn't say anything to her while she starts to walk towards the stairwell. He wordlessly trails behind her though, keeping an eye on her as per orders of the queen.

The first place that Emma goes is to the kitchen for some breakfast. She asks the cook, who is a middle-aged, stout and stolid man, to make her some oatmeal. He does as he's asked but gives little away in terms of what he's feeling. Is he happy to cook for Emma? Annoyed? He doesn't let on, but he makes the oatmeal and gives it to her, then gets back to what he was doing. Emma eats quickly and departs as soon as she's done, feeling like an unwanted guest every second that she spends around the kitchen staff.

However, her time in the kitchen gives her an idea of where she can go. A door had been open, leading to the farmland outside and showing Emma the dazzling sunshine and cloudless sky. It would be a crime to spend such a beautiful day wandering around the grey, miserable castle, so Emma decides that she will go outside and explore the castle grounds for a while.

She walks down the long corridor that Lucas had taken her down on the day she had helped out with the farming, knowing it ends with a door leading outside. She still has the guard following her every step of the way, but she tries to ignore him the best she can because, honestly, thinking about him kind of drives her insane. Luckily, ignoring him becomes significantly easier when something else grabs her attention: the sound of bickering coming from the throne room.

She slows her walking slightly and listens to the two male voices firing back and forth, though she can't make out what it is that they're saying. She gradually gets slower and slower until, finally, she can see into the room and she stops walking completely so that she can peek inside.

She was right in thinking it was two males arguing, for two men are standing in the middle of the room, face-to-face while they take turns making angry statements. They're dressed in smart clothes. At least, they count as smart in the Enchanted Forest; in Emma's world, the clothes would more likely be considered fancy dress.

But Emma's interest in the men quickly wanes because the Evil Queen is also in the room, sitting on her throne. She looks like she's just about done with their fighting, perhaps on the verge of launching a fireball at them, because she is pressing her thumb and index finger against her closed eyes as though deeply stressed. Since her eyes are closed, she hasn't spotted Emma, so the blonde is free to watch the woman and feel bad about how tense she looks. Emma has built up a fierce protectiveness of Regina in Storybrooke, and she is finding that this need to keep the brunette safe and happy transcends all realms and times.

But it's like the Evil Queen has a sixth sense that allows her to know when Emma is near, for she suddenly lifts her head and waves the hand that she has just been pressing to her eyes. The wave of the hand makes the men's voices instantly cease. Their mouths keep moving, though no sound escapes since the queen has used magic to literally take their voices away. Once they realise this, they bring their hands to their throats and try to make a noise, turning wide eyes towards the queen while they get more and more distressed.

However, the Evil Queen pays no notice because her eyes immediately landed on Emma when she looked up. It's like she knew that the blonde was there, which makes Emma feel a little uncomfortable and perplexed. The queen is looking at her, unwavering, with so much intensity that Emma swallows and begins to shuffle on to where she had been headed.

"Wait!" The Evil Queen's voice rings out, stopping Emma in her tracks.

Regina stands from the throne, descends the stairs, and walks towards Emma, ignoring the two silenced men who look at her like wounded puppies. She joins Emma in the corridor, then motions for the guard to enter the throne room to give them some privacy. Once he is inside, she uses magic to close the doors so that she and Emma are alone.

Emma notices that the queen is wearing a black dress; one of her darker, more extravagant ones that Emma had told the queen she didn't like just yesterday. Her hair is in a fancy up-do, her makeup is dark, and she looks as much like the Evil Queen as the Evil Queen gets.

Emma takes a step back.

"Where are you going?" the queen asks, not noticing Emma distancing herself.

"Outside. I thought I'd get some fresh air, seeing as it's a nice day."

"I see." The queen nods, but folds her arms across her chest and regards Emma warily.

The blonde frowns slightly. "What? You know that I'm not going to attempt to escape, right? I know that there's a protection spell around this place that prevents me from leaving, so don't worry, Your Majesty, I'll be back in a couple of hours."

"I know you will," the queen states.

"I just want to go for a walk instead of being cooped up in the castle."

"That's fine."

Despite her words, the queen is looking at Emma as though she is doing something that she doesn't want her to do. Emma wonders what about her going outside for a while could possibly bother the queen, but she's getting better at picking her battles so she decides not to question it.

Instead, she asks the other question on her mind: "Who are those guys in there?"

"Royal advisors." The queen rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "The pair of them are useless. Can't stop disagreeing with each other long enough to say anything worth my time or energy. Yet, they're a necessary evil; one that's keeping me from you, in this case."

The queen is too busy glaring at the closed door to notice Emma's lips twitch upwards slightly. "So, that's why you haven't asked to see me today? Because you have _royal duties_ to attend to?"

"Yes, I have other things that I need to do. Don't forget that I am a queen. We can't all go swanning off around the castle grounds like you."

Emma snorts, earning a confused look from the queen. " _Swanning_ off..." Emma explains. "My name is Emma _Swan_."

"Hmm." The queen is less that amused, so Emma looks down. After a moment, the queen speaks again, changing the subject. "So, what exactly are you going to be doing outside?"

"Just going for a walk," Emma shrugs. "Why? Do you not want me to go?"

"You can do as you please," Regina says calmly. "As long as you have my guard with you."

"I don't see what the big deal is here."

"There is no 'big deal', Miss Swan. I simply like keeping my eye on you."

Finding this conversation much less enjoyable than the one she'd had with the queen last night, Emma takes a couple of steps back and says, "Well, I'd like to go now to make the most of the nice weather. And I guess you need to get back to your advisors anyway."

"You're right, I do," the queen agrees. She opens the door to the throne room again, where Emma's guard is still waiting. On the queen's signal, he exits the room to join the blonde. Emma turns and walks towards the door at the end of the corridor, feeling the queen's eyes on her the whole time.

* * *

Once in the fresh air, Emma decides she's going to forget about the queen. She's going to forget about whatever had just been bothering her and try to have a nice day for the first time in seven days.

It's Sunday now, and Emma had arrived in the Enchanted Forest last Monday. How did it feel like so much longer?

Emma walks around the castle at first, looking for somewhere that she could go and explore or somewhere that she could go and sit. The guard trails behind still, but he keeps a healthy distance and mostly stays out of Emma's way. _Good_ , Emma thinks.

Eventually, Emma notices a stable down a little hill away from the castle. It seems a good enough place for her to go and look at, so she walks in that direction, then around the building until she finds the door on the side. The guard stands next to the door, back against the wall, so that Emma can go in alone while he still makes sure she doesn't do anything she shouldn't. It's nice to have even that little bit of privacy, so Emma walks into the stable with a bit more of a spring in her step.

The door opens to a corridor that runs the length of the stable, with eight stalls on either side of it so that there are sixteen in total. Emma can see a couple of horses with their heads hanging over the door of their stalls, one brown and one white.

She's not particularly fond of horses, finding them too big and powerful for her to feel comfortable around, so she sticks to the centre of the aisle while she walks down. She peeks into each stall, seeing some other horses eating or just standing away from the door so that they were out of sight when Emma had just walked in.

However, one stall, right in the middle of the stable, is empty. At least, that's what Emma thinks when she takes a step towards it, just wanting to see how much room the horses have in their little stalls. Apparently, though, it isn't empty, for a man pops his head over the chest-high door, making Emma jumps backwards from the shock of it. Her back hits the door of the stall behind her, then she hears a horse release a breath right next to her ear, and she jumps forwards again.

Her heart is hammering away by the end of it, and she puts a hand on her chest to try and calm it. When she hears a chuckle from the first stall she had jumped from, she looks and notices the man who had startled her was Graham. She hasn't seen him since the awkward time in the queen's bedchambers when he had thought they were going to have a threesome, but he doesn't seem to be thinking about that, so she lets herself forget too.

"Sorry about that," he says, opening the door to the stall so that he can step into the aisle with Emma. It's then that Emma can see that he had been laying hay down on the floor. "I didn't mean to scare you. I thought you were here to bring Penelope back."

"Penelope?"

"The horse from this stall," he indicates to the one he had just left. "You worried me because I haven't gotten her bed ready yet, but it seems that I scared you too, so I suppose we're even."

"I suppose we are," Emma agrees, then releases a breath in amusement at how she'd been made jump.

"I'm going to take it you're not a horse person then." Graham takes a cloth that had been draped over the stall door so that he can wipe his hands.

"What gave me away?"

"I've never seen anyone jump so far away from one."

Emma looks over her shoulder to the horse that had startled her, which turns out to be one of the biggest horses she's ever seen, completely black with shiny hair and it's still looking at her. She swallows and steps towards Graham, away from the horse. "I've never really spent time around horses," Emma explains. "I guess I'm just wary of them because I don't know how to act around them."

"It's not that hard, really. You just have to make friends with them. Come over here." Graham walks to the next stall over, where a much smaller brown horse is standing. "This is Luna. Luna," he says to the horse. "I'd like you to meet Emma. Emma Swan."

Graham moves behind Emma and takes her right wrist. "Now," he says, pushing against Emma's back so she steps closer to the horse. "As I said, you just need to make friends with it. Let her know you're not a threat."

He lifts Emma's hand so that it's in front of the horse's nose, and Emma can feel Luna sniffing her hand. Emma is tense, but Graham holds her steady until, eventually, Luna releases a breath and lowers her head so that Emma's palm is flat against the area above her nostrils. Emma smiles and gives it a little stoke.

"And that's it?" she asks, because that wasn't that bad at all.

"That's it," Graham confirms.

As he speaks, Emma feels his warm breath tickling her neck. Graham's front is pressed against her back and one of his hands is still wrapped gently around her wrist, while the other rests delicately on her waist. How they're standing could be seen as intimate, so Emma steps away and clears her throat.

Graham smiles at her, not seeming to notice Emma's discomfort, and walks back to the empty stall he had been working in. She follows, deciding that she could spend some time here with Graham, making up for the time she lost with him in Storybrooke due to his untimely death. He was a good guy and didn't deserve that. A friend to Emma when she hadn't had many proper friends in a long time. She misses him.

"So," he says as he continues laying down the hay. "What brings you here, anyway?"

"Just looking around." Emma shrugs and leans against the doorway to the stall. "There's not much to do around here."

"Is Her Majesty not keeping you busy?"

"In what way?"

"You were doing farm work the first time we met, were you not?"

"Oh," Emma nods. She hadn't known whether Graham meant sexually, based on what had happened the last time she saw him, or with chores. She had had to make sure. "No. She's trying to be a better person, so she's stopped treated me so badly."

Graham snorts. "I'll believe that when I see it."

"What?"

"You really think the Evil Queen can be a better person? She's called the _Evil_ Queen for a reason. Evil through and through, that woman."

"I don't believe that," Emma says honestly.

Graham gives her a look that is 50% incredulity and 50% pity. "You're not the first person to think that they can change the Evil Queen. It didn't end well for the ones who came before you, and chances are that it won't end well for you either. My advice would be to give up now. Quit while you're ahead, and by 'ahead' I mean _alive_."

"I'm not trying to _change_ Regina; I'm trying to make her realise that she isn't evil to begin with. She's hurt and angry, but that doesn't make her evil."

"She's certainly done evil things."

"I won't deny that, but who we are is not what we've done. Regina used to be a good person, and she can be a good person again because the old Regina is in there somewhere. She just needs to believe in herself."

Graham stops what he's doing so that he can smile at Emma fondly, then he turns earnest. "You're too good for her, you know. You have a good heart and a lot of faith, but I fear it may be displaced. You might be setting yourself up for disappointment, or worse, to get your heart broken."

"I appreciate your concern, but you don't need to worry about me, Graham," Emma informs him with a confident smile.

Graham tilts his head, confused. "You called me Graham the other day, too," he says thoughtfully. "You do know that that isn't my name, don't you?"

Emma feels her cheeks go warm at her slip. "Of course I do. Sorry. It just... slipped out because you remind me so much of someone that I used to know."

"Someone called Graham, I infer," Graham says, and Emma nods her head. "No matter. Though I should tell you that my name is Humbert."

"Humbert the Huntsman. Got it," Emma nods. She remembers Graham's last name in Storybrooke was Humbert, so this shouldn't be too hard to remember. It'll be just like she's calling him by his last name.

Graham smiles and gets back to work in the stall. He's quiet for a while, so Emma simply watches him work, but he eventually breaks the silence, "If you don't mind me asking, what is your relationship with the queen?"

"We don't really have one," Emma answers because she honestly has no idea what her relationship with the queen is. Her relationship with Regina? Easy: best friends and co-parents. Her relationship with the queen is much more complicated, however.

"It seems like you do."

"Well, I don't really know what it is then. We're not romantically involved, and I wouldn't call her a friend, though I wouldn't consider myself a prisoner anymore either. And we're certainly more than acquaintances."

"Wait," Graham faces her again. "You and Her Majesty _aren't_ romantically involved?" Emma nods. "Wow. That makes what I said the other day even more embarrassing then."

Emma doesn't particularly want to reminisce about when Graham thought he was going to have a threesome with Emma and the Evil Queen, so she is quick to dismiss it. "You don't need to be embarrassed."

"I'm mortified," he admits. "I just... jumped to a conclusion - the wrong one, obviously. I don't know, maybe it was just wishful thinking."

Graham's words make Emma's eyes widen, and Graham himself seems to realise that he just admitted he wants a threesome with Emma and the Evil Queen because he goes pink and says. "No! I didn't mean... I wasn't saying I wanted to be with you and Her Majesty together, at the same time. I meant it was wishful thinking that I would get to spend the night with you, because you're beautiful and sexy and... Oh Gods, you think I'm a pig, don't you?"

Emma is blushing fiercely, not used to people telling her outright that they want to sleep with her, but she shakes her head. "No, I don't think that."

"Good," he says, relieved. He walks out of the stall so that he is standing in front of Emma again. "I know it's weird, but I've just been drawn to you since you got here. It's like... I'm drowning and you're air. When I talk to you, it's like a can breathe again, can _feel_ again." Graham laughs uncomfortably and looks down. "I probably sound like a crazy man to you."

Yes, Emma could admit that it was crazy for someone who barely knew her to feel that way, but she also had a feeling that it was because of curse, because Graham's future was tied with hers and he was somehow feeling that now in the form of being inexplicably drawn to Emma.

"You don't sound crazy," she assures him.

"Either you're lying, or you're even crazier than I am because I sound crazy even to my own ears," Graham says teasingly.

"I've seen some pretty insane things in my time. You feeling like you're tethered to me doesn't even break my top ten."

Graham smiles and steps towards her. "It sounds as though you've seen a lot, been on a few adventures and _lived_. Yet I'm stuck here. I want to see things and experience things and feel things, but I can't because I'm stuck here."

Emma frowns up at him, wondering why it sounds so familiar to hear Graham go on about how much he wants to _feel_ something. It's like a weird kind of deja vu as Graham steps towards her again, until there's virtually no distance between them. Then he puts his hand under Emma's chin, tilting it up as he says, "Help me feel something."

Then his lips are pressing against Emma's firmly, desperately.

Desperate to feel something.

Emma stands in shock for a moment, eyes wide while Graham kisses her again and cups her cheeks with his hands. Emma doesn't know how to react, but then Graham's lips leave hers and she no longer needs to decide. Things happen too quickly for her brain to comprehend after that.

One moment Graham is kissing her, the next he's not. He's flying through the air, into the stall that he had just been working in until his back hits the wall, then he drops to the floor with a cry of pain. Emma stares wide-eyed at his writhing body, her mind struggling to catch up with how that happened. Had she done that with her magic? She knows that strong emotions can make magic unpredictable; maybe her emotions had blasted Graham away?

But then Graham's body disappears before her very eyes, and she knows that she did _not_ do that, which means...

She hears heels clapping against the floor and turns to see the queen storming towards her. Her jaw is clenched and her eyes are blazing and she doesn't even hesitant before lifting a hand and sending Emma flying, too. Emma only stops when her back hits the wall at the end of the corridor, which is far enough away that she has to bite her lip to keep from screaming when she hits it.

The queen keeps Emma pinned against the wall by magic until she's only a couple of feet away, then she lowers her hand and Emma slumps to the ground. She doesn't stay down though, because she's not in the mood to be weak today. Once she's stood, the queen shakes her head at her as though she's disappointed.

"I take my eyes off you for _one second_ , and this is what you do? This is exactly why I didn't want to let you out of my sight!"

Emma frowns while she puts a hand behind her to massage the lower half of her aching back. "I haven't done anything. And what have you done to Humbert?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" The queen looks at her with a glint in her eye that, as much as Emma hates to admit it, can only be described as evil. "Don't worry, Miss Swan. Your lover is safe... for now."

"He's not my... Your Majesty, you have to let me explain."

"There's nothing to explain. You take me for a fool," the queen accuses. "You think that you can play me; give me what you think I want until the perfect opportunity arises for you to stab me in the back."

"That's not what I'm doing."

The queen brings up her hand and slaps Emma hard across the face; so hard that the sound of it is like a gunshot in the quiet stables and Emma is stunned from it. "Don't you dare lie right to my face!" the queen yells.

"I'm not lying!" Emma argues, which may be a mistake because the queen lurches forward and grabs her throat, holding her against the wall.

"I underestimated you, Miss Swan. You're a liar and a manipulator, but I let my attraction to you prevent me from seeing it."

"What are you even _talking_ about?" Emma asks, confused.

"You've been stringing me along!" The queen's grip on Emma's throat tightens. "You found out that I'm attracted to you, and you decided to use it to your advantage. You thought that if you could make me believe that I had a chance with you then I would lower my guard, make myself vulnerable, and you could wait until you had the perfect opportunity to escape. Now I know, Miss Swan, all you've cared about this whole time is getting out of here, getting away from me... only, I bet you never accounted for the fact that you'd fall for _Humbert_ , my huntsman."

"I haven't fallen for Humbert, and that was never my plan."

The queen pulls Emma away from the wall, only to slam her back against it again. Emma's head hits it with a thud and she winces. "I told you not to lie to me! You're nothing but a wolf in sheep's clothing, Miss Swan. A manipulative and resourceful woman hiding behind a pretty face and the facade of a good person. The only problem with your plan is that you thought that _you_ could outsmart _me_."

"Can you please just let me explain?" Emma pleads, her cheek stinging from the slap, her back aching from being slammed against the wall, and her head throbbing for the same reason. "There's nothing going on with me and Humbert, and I swear that I wasn't leading you on. When I found out that you were attracted to me, I never tried to use it as a way to escape. I wouldn't exploit you like that."

The queen ignores that last part of Emma's argument and only focuses on the first thing she'd said. "If there's nothing going on with you and Humbert, then why did I just walk in on you kissing?"

" _He_ kissed _me_."

"You didn't stop it."

"I didn't have time! I was too shocked to act right away, and before I could come to my senses again, you came in with all guns blazing."

"All what?"

 _Oh yeah. No guns here. "_ It doesn't matter."

The queen thinks for a moment, then says, "why should I even believe you?"

"I don't know. Don't believe me if you don't want to, I don't care."

The queen squeezes Emma's throat in warning. "You're never setting foot outside of my castle again. You're not allowed to speak to anyone but me."

" _What_?" Emma asks, outraged.

"I didn't want to let you out today in the first place because I was worried that you'd plot an escape. I only let you go because I was trying to give you more freedom, trying to treat you like a normal person like you asked. But now I see that it's too risky."

"It's not risky, you're just being possessive. You want me all to yourself, but you're never going to get me."

The queen narrows her eyes. "Excuse me?"

"Do you honestly think that I would want to be with someone like you? Someone who uses magic against me, slaps me and pins me against walls if I do something that they don't like? Someone who keeps me locked in a castle and forbids me from speaking to anyone but them?"

"Because I can't trust you!" the queen defends herself.

"No, not can't. _Don't_. You _don't_ trust me, and I understand why. You trusted Snow White, and she betrayed you by telling your mother about you and Daniel. Your mother killed the love of your life. I get it. Everyone that you have trusted has hurt you, so now you don't trust anyone. But if you'd just given me a chance to _prove to you_ that I'm different, then you would have seen that I would never have hurt you."

The queen closes her eyes and finally let's go of Emma's throat. She turns around and walks a couple of steps away from Emma while taking deep breaths. All Emma can do is watch and rub her neck, which she is sure is red from the queen's tight grip.

"I've ruined everything," the queen admits quietly, back still turned to Emma. "I didn't trust you, I jumped to conclusions... and, if what you've said is true, I've ruined everything by accusing you of things that you haven't done."

She turns back to Emma, looking so sad that Emma's heart hurts for her. "Why does this have to be so hard?" the queen asks.

"Why does what have to be so hard?"

"Everything." The queen closes her eyes and tilts her head back. "Everyone that I've cared about has left me, so I don't want to let you close in case you do the same. Yet, at the same time, I don't want to be alone."

Emma steps towards the queen, the sound making the brunette open her eyes and look at her. "Everyone that you've cared about has left you," Emma echoes the queen's words. "And you don't want me to do the same. That's why you've been going to great lengths to stop me: locking me up, taking away my freedom. Don't you see that you're stifling me, though? That in taking these preventive measures, you're actually pushing me away? I like you when you're being you, and then you become the Evil Queen again and I hate it. Just be you. Just be _Regina_."

"I thought it was already too late for that."

Emma sighs. A moment ago she had been so repulsed by the brunette that she had sworn to herself that she wouldn't allow herself to get close to her, but she understands the Evil Queen somewhat, and she knows that the Regina she knows is hiding in there somewhere. It's that that makes her say her next words. "One more chance."

The queen raises her eyebrows, looking hopeful.

"I'll give you one more chance to be Regina, but if you hurt me _ever_ again then we're _done_. You could kill me if you wanted to, but I would never be with you if you abuse me."

"OK," the queen says without hesitation.

"And one more thing: you can't hurt your huntsman for kissing me."

The queen frowns. "But I told him that he is to have no business with you and he disobeyed me."

Emma just raises her eyebrow pointedly at the queen until the brunette grits her teeth and reluctantly relents. "Fine. I'll let him off with a warning. But I have a proposition for you. I'm not going to bribe you or force you to do this though, it's completely your decision."

"What is?" Emma asks, intrigued.

"Allow me to show you _Regina_ by taking you on a date."

"You're asking me on a date?" Emma clarifies. "Our first date?"

"Yes."

Emma doesn't need long to think. She smiles and shakes her head at her own decision, knowing she's probably being stupid for saying this after the events that have just transpired in these very stables. "OK. You can take me on a date."

And for the first time, the Evil Queen's smile reaches her eyes, and she looks more like Regina than Emma has ever seen her this past week.

Emma smiles wider and hopes beyond hope that her gut is right and the queen really is going to be a better person from here on out.

* * *

 **A/N: This story is taking me a lot longer to write because I plan what I want to happen in each chapter, and it always ends up in a different place than I envisaged. I just can't stick to my own plot... though, in this case, this is what led to the queen asking Emma on a date, so maybe by inability to follow my own plan has helped SQ. (Only this once, though. It has hindered their progress many times before. Damn my own defiance.)**

 **Anyway...**

 **Oh, before you go, I finished one of my other stories a few weeks ago, plus it's summer now so I have more time on my hands, which means a) faster updates for this story from now on, and b) I'm going to start planning my next one. I have a poll on my profile which contains summaries of my ideas for a new story. I would really appreciate it if you could head over there and vote. I'll be closing it in a couple of days and making a start planning, so... yeah. Thanks in advance :)**


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